


Hogwarts: A Tale Told In Grey

by BleachBrook20



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Boggarts, Coming of Age, Drama, Duelling, F/M, Fantasy, Gen, Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Fifth Year, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Magic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Professor Neville Longbottom, Quidditch, Romance, Triwizard Tournament
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27063193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleachBrook20/pseuds/BleachBrook20
Summary: This is a Harry Potter spin-off story that takes place in 2005. It features a new set of students that the story will focus on. The story will gradually progress. Will also feature HP characters and references.
Relationships: Ray/Mary, Sean/Nora, Tom/Serena
Kudos: 1





	1. Episode 1: A Sluggish Feast

It was September, 2005 The train had left the station 9 and 3 quarters. The first year students seemed excited. The food carriage was also emptied by one compartment. After some time, the train stopped at the station. The students were greeted by a noticeable man. “Hello! My name is Hagrid.” He spoke in a weird accent but a cheery tone. ”I will be leading you kids to Hogwarts.” Some of kids were intimidated at first. But his charm won them over. The first and second years used boats while the others used carriages. The new students arrived at Hogwarts. They were waiting in front of the hall. They were being instructed by Neville Longbottom. He was the Professor of Herbology. As he was saying his last name, a student snickered. He showed a deadpanned face towards the student.

Neville: Welcome to Hogwarts. The most prestigious wizarding school in the world. Being a student here is considered an honor by many. In a little while, all of you will enter the halls and the sorting ceremony will begin.

The doors opened. Neville lead them through. The students felt a mixture between excitement and nervousness. The elder students cheered them on. The sorting ceremony began. A young girl was up first. But as soon as the hat was put on her head, she heard giggling. She took the hat off. But she heard nothing. Then she put in on again and the giggling continued. The professors were confused as to why the hat was not sorting her. Neville called upon another student. The same thing happened. Neville asked for the help of Slughorn. Slughorn then put on the hat. The hat awoke and started shouting, “Sluggy Slug Slug.” The students started laughing. The hat then seemed fine enough to sort students. After the students were sorted. Gryffindor was for brave and courageous goody two shoes. Hufflepuff was for the kind and humble foodies. Ravenclaw was for the invisible smartasses. And Slytherin was for the pureblooded snobheads. But these were just stereotypes. In reality, the students all had different personalities to their own. Headmistress Minerva McGonagall began her speech. She spoke about the heads of each houses. Professor Flitwick and Slughorn were heads of Ravenclaw and Slytherin for some time. She introduced two new heads. Professor Neville was the head of Hufflepuff even though he was a student of Gryffindor. The new head of Gryffindor was Amelia Steinberg. She graduated from Ilvermorny and began teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts in Hogwarts three years ago. She was considered very pretty by the male students. The female students either idolized her or hated her for pure jealousy reasons.

McGonagall: “And now, let the feast begin.”

Everyone began the feast. The new students started introducing themselves to their new houses. Friends reunited after holidays. The food spells created by Helga Hufflepuff were still used to this very day. During the feast, Professor Slughorn started coughing loudly. Professor Flitwick tried to help him get rid of the cough. Suddenly, he started coughing out slugs. At that moment, the first year students found slugs in their hairs. Everyone started panicking. Headmistress McGonagall tried to calm them down. But the students started running away. Among the students running, one was running with proficient speed. He ran with a huge grin on his face. He did not wear a robe like everyone else. Instead he had a long black coat. His entire outfit was black except for his shirt which was white. The students scattered across to different rooms. The one wearing a coat stopped at the staircase. His friends were present there.

Friend 1: Sean!

Sean: Holy shit! That was epic!

Friend 2: I know! How the hell did you do that?

Sean: Stealth, spells and no sleep.

Friend 3: Of course.

Sean: Shut thy mouth Ray. Hey Tommy, don’t you think McGonagall will call you to help since you’re a prefect?

Tom: Oh shit! I gotta go then.

Friend 2: Hurry or else the other prefect will hop on another one.

Tom: Shut up Henry!

The boys began laughing at the staircase. Eventually the situation became calmer. The feast resumed. Luckily, the food remained untouched by the slugs which was a surprise for everyone. The Headmistress was furious that they could not find the culprit. She suspected it could be Sean. But she had no proof thus unable to punish. Sean was considered the most eccentric wizard in the school. He was skilled in every subject. Although he was not studious, he consumed knowledge. His curiosity was his main tool. He would break his own leg if it meant he could get an answer for an irrelevant question he had on his mind. After the feast, Sean and Henry were going back to their common room. A girl approached them.

Girl: Excuse me?

Sean: How may I assist you?

Girl: Can you tell me where the common room for Ravenclaw is?

Sean: Well since we are from Ravenclaw yourselves, we can lead you there yourselves.

Girl: Thanks.

Sean: No need.

Girl: I’m Diana.

Sean: The name is Sean.

Henry: I’m Henry.

Diana: Say Sean, why don’t you wear a robe like others here?

Sean: A pretty reasonable question. Perhaps Henry can tell you.

Henry: He thinks that the robes here are ugly. So he used magic to turn his robe into a long coat.

Diana: How did you do it?

Henry: He made his own spell.

Diana: Really! That’s pretty cool!

Sean: I had to tire out all my fingers for it.

They walked and talked their way to the common room. After that, they all went to sleep except Sean. He had developed insomnia in his 2nd year. Henry still doesn’t know the reason. Sean, Henry, Tom, Ray and another friend of theirs named Matt started at the same year. Henry and Sean were Ravenclaw, Tom was Gryffindor, Ray was Slytherin while Matt became a Hufflepuff. Even though they were from different houses, they hung out all the time. They all became good friends. The next day, Diana suspected that Sean did the “Sluggish Feast” as everyone called it. She thought it was funny though little exaggerated. But the outrage that caused in the school made her mad. She decided to confront him. Diana: So how was the prank?

Sean: Pretty amusing if you ask me.

Diana: The outrage is still there. Many first year students are now scared of hats.

Sean: You could say so.

Diana: You sure like tormenting people.

Sean: It’s a trait I gained from life.

Diana: Don’t you feel a little bad for all the trouble you caused?

Sean: Nope.

Diana: Not even for Professor Slughorn?

Sean: Professor Slughorn coughing out slugs is something I always imagined.

Diana: You truly are the scum of the earth.

Sean: That is one of the nicest compliments I have ever received.

Diana became even more furious. After the Weasley twins, he took on the role of the prankster and comic. Nobody could outprank him. He never backed down a single challenge. In order to vent out her bitchyness towards him, she decided to prank him. During an outside session of Professor Amelia, she used ‘Incendio’ on his coat. It instantly lit on fire. She thought he would freak out, panic and run around the entire map of Hogwarts. The students started panicking. She was secretly giggling. But he looked calm. Henry was baffled.

Henry: Sean! You fucking..

Sean: What?

Henry: YOU’RE ON FUCKING FIRE!?!?

Sean pulled out his coat. They all thought he would put it out by kicking it on the ground like a normal person. Unfortunately, Sean was not a normal person. He swished the coat and the fire came alive. He began controlling the fire. The fire took in the shape of a dragon. The dragon was moving around all over the place. It soon chose Diana as a target. As the dragon came charging near her. She closed her eyes. The students were scared. Suddenly, they heard someone say ‘Gunner Powen’ out loud. The dragon exploded into glitter. The students were glad it was over. There were also amused and surprised by Sean’s magic including Diana. Professor Amelia was not amused.

Amelia: What the earth was that?

Sean: I believe it is something called magic.

Amelia: Do you think this is funny Mr. Wittford?

Sean: I dunno. I was on fire.

Henry groaned at his pun. Diana was saltier than the Pacific Ocean. Professor Amelia tried to say something but nothing came out of her mouth. After all the classes were over and the students were in their common rooms, Sean confronted Diana.

Sean: How’s it going firewoman?

Diana: Don’t act too cocky.

Sean: Woah! The criminal is acting real bitchy.

Diana: The spell was useful. The dragon was cool too.

Sean: These words seem foreign to your mouth.

Diana: What do you want me to do? Say, “Oh Sean! Thank you for saving my arse from that dragon which was made with the fire caused by me. You truly are my prince!”

Sean: Now the criminal has confessed.

Diana: Duh. Of course you knew it was me.

Henry: You gotta try something better than that. He avoids others pranks like its child support.

Sean: Actually tax evasion fits better.

Henry: He is pretty much a human prank machine made by the Weasley twins.

Sean: Well, one of them.

Henry & Diana: Seriously?

Sean: Ok that was insensitive. Sorry bout that.

Diana: So that’s all?

Sean: I still require an apology.

Diana: Really? What do you need it for?

Sean: For humanitarian purposes.

Henry: Huh?

Sean: Ignore it. I require one right now.

Diana: Ok. I apologize for my actions.

Sean: My goodness! The woman apologizes! Earth has frozen.

Diana: Shut up!

Sean: Okay then. Now that all bickering is out of the way, wanna learn how to do real pranks.

Diana: Yeah sure.

Sean: Ah! My right hand man and left hand woman!

Henry: Stop it. This is mental torture.

Sean: That’s the whole point.

The three students laughed. They had formed a trio. It was the beginning of a weird friendship among them. Although the pranks required complex spells, Sean was capable of much more. Diana asked Henry about it but even he had no clue. Sean kept the information private. But he knew that they were for later use. A use that could be beneficial for many.


	2. Episode 2: Wizarding Duels

Headmistress McGonagall announced that a dueling competition would be held among the students. It would be for 5th to 7th year students only. The dueling competition held from October 12 to 14. The first day was for 6th years, second day was for 7th years and the final day was for the 5th years. Each house picked 4 duelists to go against each other. The list of duelists were:

Ravenclaw; Sean Wittford, MacKenzie Swift, Deborah Mason, Edward Mullen

Slytherin: Ray Noviat, Mary Junnet, Emile Hargreeves, Sasha Robbins

Gryffindor: Thomas Kursell, Serena Willows, Nora Fisher, Seamus O’Malley

Hufflepuff: Matthew Gibson, Annette Ramsay, Larry Fields, Carson Meeks

Now inside the mind of a certain Ray:

“The dueling competition seems pretty important. Me, Thomas, Matt and Sean all joined. Henry did not join. Mary also joined. It feels weird being in this competition against my girlfriend. But my feelings won’t prevent me from trying to win the competition. The Professors have been on my back for slacking off recently. Maybe if I win, they can shut their traps. Let’s see how it goes.”

Now let’s look at the Fisher:

“Professor Amelia thought it was a good idea for me to take part in this thing. I am not really into dueling. But I absolutely won’t mind busting Thomas’s ass. We have had a rivalry for quite some time. He honestly has no clue how women work. Who cares? The final would probably be among Sean and someone else. Sean is a wildcard. God knows what he is gonna do.”

The competition began at 10 am. The referees were Professor Amelia and Professor Neville. In the first round, Ravenclaw faced up against Hufflepuff while Slytherin went against Gryffindor. There were eight duels. Two victors from each house went through the next round. They were:

Ravenclaw: Sean Wittford, MacKenzie Swift

Slytherin: Ray Noviat, Emile Hargreeves

Gryffindor: Thomas Kursell, Serena Willows

Hufflepuff: Matthew Gibson, Annette Ramsay

The duelists seemed pumped. Diana and Henry were among the audience. They cheered on their friends. Sean and Henry had suspicions about Diana at first. She came from a rich pureblood family. She was homeschooled for most of her life. But after new ministry rules required you to have institutional education for jobs, her mother admitted her to Hogwarts. She had her own private sorting ceremony. The sorting hat was in open field for a brief period of time. Sean used this time period to put on the charms that made the ‘Sluggish Feast’ possible. They were confused as to how someone could join Hogwarts in the 5th year. But they did not mind much as Diana turned out to be a very good friend of theirs. She also became good friends with the other girls. The second round was of the two house victors against each other. 

Now into the mind of Tommy Boy:

“That first round went well. I thought my hands would betray me and I would get handed a defeat by myself. But luckily that didn’t happen. Unfortunately now I have to duel Serena. We are both prefects for Gryffindor. I have liked her since first year. I absolutely do not feel comfortable dueling against her. Why couldn’t I duel Sean or Ray? This is unfair. Oh well, I hope things between us don’t get heated.”

Into the mind of Annette-Boo:

“Life as a prefect has not been going well. I am the only one who takes my job seriously. Emile lets his friends get away with a ton of stuff. Sasha and Eddie are just there. Tom and Serena play lovebirds. I am fucking fuming. But in order to keep my prefect status, I have to put on my ‘Nice Student’ façade. But this competition will help vent out all my frustrations.” In the Ravenclaw duel, MacKenzie threw a ‘Protego’ on herself. But Sean used ‘Accio’ which caused her wand to go at his hand. His victory remark was, “That was pretty swift.”

In the Slytherin duel, both Ray and Emile used ‘Expelliarmus’ which they both dodged. While dodging, Ray was able to hit Emile with a ‘Stupefy,’ causing Emile to get thrown off the stage and groan in pain.

In the Gryffindor duel, Tom seemed hesitant to duel Serena. But she showed the other prefect no mercy as she hit him with ‘Confundo’ and then a ‘Stupefy.’ Although it was Tom who got hit with the spell, the audience were the ones who became confused. But his friends knew different. They knew he had a crush on her for the longest time. Henry thought she might not reciprocate with his feelings. But Sean assumed she was just in dueling mode and would have even put her own mother into sleep.

In the Hufflepuff duel, Matt used ‘Accio’ but failed. Annette used 'Langlock’ and it hit. Matt’s tongue got stuck. But somehow he was still able to use ‘Oppugno’ which proved to be effective. Annette barely lost her cool. But she managed to keep herself calm. Matt had to recover his tongue with the help of his house head.

The semi-finals were to begin. Everyone was getting hyped. The duelists were ready for the next round.

Now into the mind of Bloody Mary:

“I lost in the first round. I would have not cared if the opponent was someone like Sean since nobody knows what he would do. But I lost to Emile of all people. I am truly disappointed in myself. I have to drown myself in a tub full of butterbeer to clean off this embarrassment. I didn’t think I would win. But I also didn’t think I would lose in the first round. As for the other rounds, The Gryffindor duel was very interesting. Though it did seem like Serena was feeling a tint of regret. But it does not matter now. I’m putting my money of Sean since he is up against Emile.”

Now onto Matty’s mind:

“Crap! I’m up against Serena. Is she trying to wreck the entire gang? I don’t even know at this point. Hopefully I can defeat her. But then Tom would be furious at me. Maybe I should just disarm her. That way no one is hurt. It would be cool if Sean and I go up against each other. I’m confident I can take him down in a duel. The audience seems excited. Maybe I should put a bet. Nah. The refs would probably throw me out. I won’t mind Professor Amelia kicking me though.”

The first semi-final was between Serena and Matt. Matt’s tongue went back to its normal state. So he can now duel properly. Unfortunately for him, Serena threw ‘Silencio’ which made him mute. She then used ‘Expelliarmus.’ But instead of disarming him, it sent him flying off into the wall. He groaned in pain. But nobody could hear anything. Serena gave a pretty cocky smile and went off the stage.

The second semi-final was between Sean and Emile. Emile was prepared. Sean looked sloppy. He looked tense. When the duel began, Emile threw an ‘Incendio’ which Sean dodged. He then slid his way towards Emile and hit him with a ‘Stupefy’ which sent him flying. This time, his groans could have been heard. Sean’s friends were hooting in cheers. The audience were impressed. He looked like the favorite to win the competition. The final was now decided. It was Sean vs Serena.

Now let’s look at Serena’s brain:

“So Sean has made it into the finals. Good for him. I don’t know him that well personally. From what Tom says, he is an interesting fellow. Speaking of Tom, I feel guilty dueling against him. I didn’t mind dueling Matt or Seamus. But I know that Tom has had feeling towards me for a long time. Hopefully he is not mad at me. Our prefects tasks would get pretty awkward if that were to happen. Let me just forget this for a moment. My main focus now should be defeating Sean and winning the duel.”

Now into the ultimate dickhead’s mind:

“Holy mother of fucking shit! I did not think I would get this far. I just dodged and spewed out some shit from me mouth. I honestly cannot believe with my own eyeballs that it worked. Professor Flitwick decided to put me in. It was unanimous. Now I just have to beat Serena. Tom would have been mad if she hadn’t beaten him already. She also busted Matt so no mercy for her. I gotta do it for the boys. The hell is even the prize for this damn competition?”

The final duel began. Sean of Ravenclaw vs Serena of Gryffindor. Who shall win? Serena seemed determined. Sean showed a different type of confidence. Serena threw an ‘Expelliarmus.’ But Sean said something odd. He said ‘Reversia.’ As he said the spell, Serena’s spell went backwards and hit her hard. She went off the stage quite easily. The audience were silenced. The referees were mind blown. The tension was broken as Diana, Henry, Ray and Matt cheered. The audience then began cheering. The refs had the following conversation,

Amelia: What in Merlin’s beard did he say?

Neville: I heard him say, “Riversha.”

Amelia: Is it allowed?

Neville: The spell worked. The opponent went off the stage. So it counts.

He went towards the referees. They congratulated him and gave him his prize. The prize was 100 galleons. His friends approached him after he received his prize.

Matt: Congrats man!

Henry: Hell yeah! Ravenclaw for the win!

Ray: That duel was pretty one sided if you ask me.

Diana: What was that spell?

Sean: A special spell I made.

Henry: The fuck is it called?

Sean: It’s called ‘Reversia.’ It reverses the opponents spell and redirects it towards them.

Matt: Bro that’s overpowered!

Ray: I know. Is it even allowed?

Sean: I mean I did win the competition and the Professors allowed it. So I guess…

Diana: Won’t others now use this spell?

Sean: I would like to see them try. Just saying it won’t work. It requires much more than that to master this spell.

Henry: Well I’ll be damned.

Matt: Let’s go celebrate. We should be able to eat an insane buffet with 100 galleons right?

Sean: Of fucking course!

Ray: What is it? Won’t you treat us?

Sean: Let me put my resources to use then we can eat a buffet the size of a dragon.

Others: Aww yeah!

Meanwhile on the other side,

Tom: Hey! Are you okay?

Serena: Yeah I’m fine.

Tom: That’s good.

Serena: What on earth was that spell?

Tom: I don’t even know myself.

Serena: Crap! I really thought I would win.

Tom: It’s ok. You still did pretty well.

Serena: I’m sorry for our duel.

Tom: Sorry for what?

Serena: Sorry for beating you so embarrassingly.

Tom: I messed up. I lost my focus. It’s not your fault.

Serena: But still…

Tom: It’s fine. Plus if I was against Sean, I would gotten my ass handed harder.

They both shared a laugh.

Professor Neville looked at the cheerful students. He seemed happy. In his mind:

“The students looked cheerful. It reminds me of the duel in my 2nd year. We had Lockhart as our DADA professor. Harry and Draco went up against each other. That was where we all found out he spoke Parseltongue. I was shocked at first. Everyone thought he was Lord Voldemort’s heir. But I knew that was false. He was too pure of a person to be his heir. I always looked up to him. He has been a true friend of mine and I am grateful for him. Oh boy! I will have some nostalgic talks with Hannah tonight.”

The rest of the week went by peacefully. Some students tried out Sean’s spell. But nobody was able to do it. Sean was amused by this. No other soul knew how he did it. And he hopes nobody ever does. The spell was to be used in important situations. Well for now, he enjoyed watching other make fools of themselves trying out the spell.


	3. Episode 3: Classroom Shenanigans

Henry: Wake up.

Sean: *pretending to sleep

Henry: Wake up bitch!

Sean: *snores

Henry: WAKE UP!

Henry kicks Sean out of bed.

Sean: What the fuck!

Henry: Hurry up. We don’t have much time.

Sean: Okay ‘Dad.’

Diana screamed from downstairs, “Get down you idiots. How long are you two gonna take?

Sean got ready in an instant. They all left to go to the halls for breakfast. They enjoyed a heavy breakfast including croissants.

It was March 9. They attended the DADA class. Today’s lesson was on boggarts. Boggarts are a strange creature. Instead of attacking with their normal form, they take shape of a person’s fear and attack them. It is an ingenious way to attack. But there is a way around defeating them.

Professor Amelia: All you have to do is point your wand at the creature and say ‘Riddikulus.’ Understood?

The students all nodded their heads.

Amelia: Very good. Now let’s begin with Henry.

Henry stepped forward.

Amelia: Think about what you fear and put them in a situation in which you won’t fear them. Okay?

Henry nodded. With one swish of a wand, the closet was opened and a large tarantula appeared in front of them. Some of the students in the back of the lined got scared. Henry was scared too. But after he said ‘Riddikulus,’ the tarantula turned into a rainbow colored donkey and was upside down. Henry found it amusing. It was then Larry’s turn. The boggart took form of a creepy looking witch. After the spell, it was covered in whipped cream. The students found it amusing. After a few other students and laughs, it was Diana’s turn. The boggart took form of a black door. It was covered in locks. Diana tried to use ‘Alohomora’ but the locks did not unlock. She was getting more scared. Professor Amelia used ‘Riddikulus’ and the door turned in to large piece of paper. Even with that, Diana was shook. The others tried to comfort her. After a few more laughs at boggarts, it was Sean’s turn. Henry and Matt could not believe their eyes. For the first time in their lives, they saw Sean being uncomfortable. He looked unnatural. The boggart saw him. The boggart took an odd shape. A shape which shocked everyone. The boggart took on the form of Sean himself. It was covered in blood. The blood looked fresh. It made all of his black clothes look crimson. It was a carbon copy of him. The boggart Sean then flashed a villainous grin. Sean immediately used ‘Riddikulus’ and the boggart turned into a puddle of blood instead. Sean looked paler than usual. He felt his temperature rising. He felt sick to his core. His friends tried to comfort him. It wasn’t much of a success. After the class, they all had a conversation.

Sean: Are you okay Diana?

Diana: Yeah I’m fine. I think.

Matt: The hell happened?

Henry: I thought my fears were bad. But it’s nothing compared to you guys.

Sean: Don’t undermine your fear Henry.

Henry: I know. But still, would you like to explain?

Matt: Maybe it can help put off that fear.

Diana: Yeah. Yours was truly traumatic.

Sean: You explain yours first.

Diana: I always felt the odd one out. My entire childhood, I did not have many friends. And the friends I did have were all superficial levels. They probably have forgotten I even exist. My parents weren’t innocent either. They pampered me so much that they thought I needed a caretaker for Hogwarts. That door was an escape. An escape to the real world. But I feared I would not able to open the door. The locks are the obstacles. You guys are the friends I have always wanted. I don’t feel fake or left out. So thank you for that.

Matt: Don’t worry. We are here for you. That is what friendship is all about right?

Henry: That is such a common line.

Matt: Shut up!

Henry: Though it is common, it is very effective.

Matt: Damn right it is!

Diana: Now you hold up your end of the bargain Sean.

Sean: Not right now.

Matt: Come on man!

Sean: I don’t really feel comfortable talking about it right now. I promise I will talk about it today. Just not now. Is that ok?

Henry: Yeah it is fine.

Sean: Thank you guys for understanding.

Gryffindor and Slytherin were considered house rivals. But after the battle of Hogwarts, the rivalry was put aside. Both houses had potions together that day. Professor Slughorn was teaching them about certain potions. One of them included the love potion. Although the potion piqued the interest of the students, Slughorn said, “The love potion is highly dangerous. It does not create true love but instead makes the partner a slave. This potion is the sole reason why Lord Voldemort even existed.” He felt more comfortable talking about Voldemort. For the majority of his life, Slughorn believed that he taught the Dark Lord about horcruxes. He would later find out after the war that Tom already knew how to make horcruxes. But Slughorn still thought he should have done something about it.

He tasked the students to create the Draught of Peace. It is a potion which relieves anxiety. Ray was with Emile and Mary. He was very curious about the Love potion. He kept checking between both the page of his task and the Love potion. Mary was confused and Emile just ignored him. After the students made their potions, Slughorn requested them to drink their own potions. Some were skeptical as to drink the potion. But they did it anyway. Unfortunately, Ray was seeing different things. He began rubbing his eyes furiously. His vision was blurry at first. After a while, it became clearer. He then heard a mysterious voice.

Emily: You okay there Ray?

He looked up and saw a girl in place of Emile. She looked like him. He then heard another voice from behind.

Mark: Ray?

As he turned around, his jaw had fell on the floor. Mary was standing there in the form of a dude. A handsome dude. Ray started shaking his head. He looked around the room. The entire class was staring at him. He was absolutely petrified. Nora turned into Norris. Serena turned into Sylvain. Tom looked like he had spent five hours on a make-up chair. Even Slughorn looked different. He looked like an old grandma looking to feed him Christmas cookies. Ray was going nuts. He thought he was dreaming.

Tatiana: Hey bro. The hell is going on?

Norris: Seriously. You’re acting like you just came out of your mum’s womb.

Emily: You are heating up.

Ray felt that the universe a 180 degree sharp turn and reversed everyone’s gender. His mind was getting messed up. He was tense. The others tried to comfort him but they were making it worse. Suddenly, he screamed from the top of his lungs and fell unconscious. The others were confused. They wondered what had happened. Slughorn checked the potion and realized what he had done. After a visit to Madam Pomfrey, it was revealed that he had mixed up the Draught of Peace and Love potions together into a potion which makes the user see the other version in the opposite gender. After finding it out, Sean, Matt and Tom were laughing their asses off.

Sean: Oh my fucking god!

Matt: Merlin’s beard!

Tom: How airheaded are you Ray?

Ray was absolutely fuming.

Ray: Shut up!

Sean: So did Emile become Emily?

Tom: Mary became Mark?

Matt: Nora became Norris?

The trio started laughing even more. They were struggling to breath from the laughter. Ray legitimately thought they all drank Laugh-Inducing potions.

Matt: Ok then. Are you alright?

Ray: Yeah I am.

Tom: Good to know.

Sean: Don’t you guys have DADA now?

Tom: Yeah we do. Let’s go.

Ray: What’s today’s lesson?

Matt: Boggarts.

Ray and Tom looked at Sean. He seemed tense after hearing “Boggarts.”

Tom: You alright there Sean?

Sean shook his head.

Sean: Yeah I’m fine. Now go.

Ray and Tom looked at him with curiosity. But decided to leave it be. They left for the DADA class.

In their class, things were far much tamer when it came to fearful things. Tom saw the boggart turn into a giant grizzly bear. He used the spell and it turned into a cute little teddy bear. He almost held it when Professor Amelia stepped in.

Amelia: What are you thinking? That is a boggart. Not an actual teddy bear.

Tom feeling embarrassed backed away. To his surprise, Ray’s fear was not him as a beautiful woman. Instead it was an owl who kept saying, “You’re slacking” repeatedly. He understood what it meant. The others had normal fears. Then there was Nora. After Hermione Granger wanted to make sure S.P.E.W was going well in Hogwarts, she requested Headmistress McGonagall to open up an S.P.E.W club in the school. McGonagall obliged. A couple of students joined. Nora was one of them. She cared a lot about nature. So when she saw the boggart into a scenery of burned trees, she became emotional. The scenery was dark. The trees looked like they were clearly burned by humans. There was absolutely no green in the scenery. It looked lifeless. She said ‘Riddikulus’ and the scenery turned into a balloon. The balloon was traveling all across the room and went back into the closet. Nora sighed and went to the side. The class resumed.

After the DADA class was over, Tom, Ray and Nora found Sean, Matt, Diana and Henry sitting in a stairwell.

Nora: Hey everyone.

The Ones in stairs: Hey Nora.

Diana: How did DADA go?

Tom: Pretty interesting. I’m surprised I didn’t get to see the boggart become the female Ray.

Ray: Will you stop it?

Matt: No we won’t.

Everyone looked amused except Sean. Nora found that extremely odd. Sean was usually the one amusing everyone. They both didn’t hang out much but she still considered him one of her good friends.

Nora: What’s wrong Sean?

Everyone’s attention was at Sean now.

Sean: So I saw the boggart taking in my fear. It turned into me covered in blood giving a creepy smile.

Nora, Tom and Ray were shocked by the news. They looked at the others. They seemed worried.

Sean: You guys are all somewhat familiar with the wizarding world. I never was. I found out about it 5 years ago after my parents passed away. Life was going pretty shitty. I always struggled to express my feelings. I thought they were unnecessary. So I stowed them in the back. The feelings then turned into codes. Unfortunately for me, I am unable to crack these. I feel like without feelings, I’m just a monster. A human being with no soul. One day, I’ll just go mad trying to figure out these codes and vent out my rage. You all probably think it sounds dumb. All of this still doesn’t feel real to me. So I just go along with everything. I feel out place all the fucking time. I’m sorry for spewing out all this shit. I’m just wasting all of your time.

They all fell silent. They never thought Sean would say things like these. Nora went up and gave him a hug. Sean stiffened himself. The others joined in on the hug. They all comforted him.

Nora: Don’t you ever say that this is bullshit. Your feelings matter.

They all agreed with her. Sean looked at everyone and gave them a smile. The smile was pure but foreign on his face. It looked good on him. They all chatted a bit more. Sean felt more at ease. After a longtime, he had peaceful thoughts in his mind at night. Next morning, he continued his “sleeping” façade and the cycle continued. That day went less depressing for everyone’s sake.


	4. Episode 4: A Stealthy Christmas

The holidays have arrived. Christmas is considered more of a peaceful period of time in Hogwarts history. Most of the students have left to enjoy the holidays with their families. But certain students remained in school for various reasons. Henry’s parents decided to visit his elder sister who is situated in Turkey. Sean’s parents passed away from a deadly virus when he was three. He was raised by his grandmother. Unfortunately for him, she passed away 2 years ago. They both were in the hall looking at the decorations.

Henry: These decorations look lovely.

Sean: Why are red and green considered Christmas colors?

Henry: Yup. Gryffindor and Slytherin not only dominate most of Hogwarts history, but their house colors also dominates the Christmas holidays.

Sean: Damn. Sucks for us and Huffs.

They both had a good understanding about the surroundings of Hogwarts. They pretty much knew all of the secrets areas in the school. When they were walking down the hallways, they were greeted by Matt.

Matt: Hey boys.

Sean & Henry: Hey there.

Matt: Man these holidays seem boring so far. All the pretty girls are out of sight.

Henry: Is that the only thing you care about?

Sean: There’s also food.

Henry: I thought you were leaving for home?

Matt: I’m going right now. My brothers and I are going to Switzerland. It’s a beautiful country. There are mountains and tasty chocolates.

Sean: I seriously thought you were going to end by saying, “there will be some ladies.”

Matt: Oh I already checked out some magazines. Hoo boy are they pretty! There will be pretty travelers too.

Henry: Merlin’s beard!

Sean: The day a girl will fall for you is the day I pass away.

Matt: Okay I gotta go now.

Sean & Henry: Goodbye.

Matt: See you after holidays.

Sean and Henry continued walking. During their time in Hogwarts, they had heard of a rumor. They heard many rumors but this one stood out to them. It was about a certain map. The map was called The Marauders Map. It was made by the Marauders. They were Hogwarts students who also were Animagi. They later became members of the first Order of The Phoenix. The map had details about the entirety of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. It also showed where each person was in those areas. The current owner of the map was Harry Potter. Sean and Henry theorized about this.

Sean: Since we know about the place so much and many are gone, why don’t we try to make our own map?

Henry: It is pretty complicated. The Marauders were able to access some areas because they were Animagi.

Sean: We can use stealth. I have walkie-talkies. We can talk easily with these.

Henry: You actually bought these here?

Sean: Of course I did.

Henry: My goodness! We shall see.

They then saw a strange being moving from afar. Henry was taken aback. But Sean went ahead and approached it. It looked light skinned. It had flowing black hair. As it turned around towards them, the creature squealed. The creature turned out to be Diana.

Sean: What on God’s green earth are you doing here?

Diana: Shut thy mouth!

Henry: Why are we huddled near a bush?

Diana: Quiet you donut! Professor Flitwick is looking for me.

Sean: What did you do?

Diana: I did nothing. My parents want me to go back home.

Henry: Don’t you want to go back home? It is holiday season after all.

Diana: I would rather shoot my own two feet than spend the holidays there.

Sean: Seems like you know a lot about sneaking in and out.

Diana: I had to know. I was pretty much forced to live like I was a hermit.

Henry: Gee that sucks.

Sean: Care to hear out our plan?

Sean told Diana about the map idea he and Henry had. Diana was ecstatic. They decided to go ahead with the plan. They had to use theirs skills to make the map beautifully. They decided to name themselves the Shadows of the Highlands as Hogwarts was in Scottish highlands.

Diana was the Spider. Her task was to go to the areas and observe them. Sean was Eagle. His task was to help Spider navigate through the areas. He also notified her about incoming threats. Last but not least, it was Henry who was the Dolphin. He would make the map using spells and charms. They began their mission in the night. They all wore disguises.

Eagle began scouting the environment. It was the upper levels of the school. There were many mysterious rooms. After getting the clear, Spider entered a room. It was incredibly dark. She used ‘Lumos.’ Her wand then started glowing at one end, becoming a source of light. She observed the area and found out that it was just a room filled with unused items for Quidditch. She used ‘Nox’ and the light went out. She left and went to another room. The room had a weird stench. It smelled like onions. She decided to investigate it.

Diana: I smell onions.

Sean: The fuck!?

Diana: I am getting a weird stench from this room. It smells like onions.

Henry: The school has no pantry. So it must be something odd.

Diana: Copy that.

Diana looked around. What she saw was a hog with warts. Her life was complete.

Diana: Guys.

Sean: What?

Diana: I found a hog.

Henry: Cool. So?

Diana: It’s covered in warts.

Sean: Wait seriously?!

Diana: I’m hundred percent serious.

Henry: Use the mirror.

Eagle had hexed a few mirrors so that they work like a video camera. Dolphin and Spider do not know the hex he used. Eagle and Dolphin saw the wart filled hog. Dolphin’s freckles stood out from his face. Eagle believed he could die peacefully that day.

Sean: Holy fucking shit! Holy mother of Jesus H. Christ Mary Magdolin!

Henry: I can’t believe it! I have seen a sight worthy of an Order of Merlin.

Suddenly Eagle spotted someone. He saw Filch petting his cat and walking near the room Spider was in.

Sean: Spider, Cat Owner is near.

Diana: Got it.

She ran out of the room. Filch spotted her.

Eagle got on the stairs. Spider slid downed the rails of one set of stairs. As the stairs were moving, Eagle used ‘Glisseo.’ The steps turned into a slide. Eagle and Spider slid down. As they met the edge, they both jumped. Dolphin was there waiting at a platform. Spider’s jump was a little short. Luckily, Dolphin was there to catch her and got her up. Eagle on the other hand, bonked his head into a wall. Fortunately, he was fine. They all ran off. They all used ‘Deprimo.’ Three holes were made on the ground. They jumped on one each. They then ended up in front of the Ravenclaw tower. They ran their way back into their common room.

Sean: How much of the map is done?

Henry: Around 69%.

Sean: Nice.

Diana: That was hectic!

Henry: It was absolutely bananas!

Sean: My head hurts.

The next morning was filled with them filling their stomach and planning out the next schedule. It took place three days later. All that was left was the Forbidden Forest. They visited Hagrid during a break in daytime.

Everyone: Hey there Hagrid.

Hagrid: Ey there! How are you all?

Henry: Pretty well.

Sean: MEIJI!

Behind Hagrid’s hut, a white little shiba inu came running towards Sean.

Sean: Hey there boy!

Diana: Hi Meiji!

Henry: Oy bruv.

Sean petted the dog.

Sean: You are growing big there my boy.

Hagrid: He is pretty with ya ain’t he?

Sean: Of course he is. He’s my son.

Hagrid: You three look like you all have a plan.

Henry: Yes we do.

They explained the plan to Hagrid. He looked worried.

Hagrid: It’s gonna be dangerous!

Sean: Don’t worry. We have planned this out for three days.

Diana: If you mess up Sean, then I will take Meiji from you.

Sean: If I mess up, you die. Either way I end up with him.

At night they went ahead with their plan.

Hagrid and Dolphin were the lookouts. He also helped out with the map. Eagle and Spider went to the forest. Eagle pointed out the paths and Spider observed them. Things were doing well. Suddenly, a howler came running towards Spider.

The howler shouted: Diana Princeton! I have received your letter. We had a party planned out for you. But you decided to spend holidays in that school. We are truly disappointed in…

Eagle used ‘Incendio’ and the howler burned. The howler attracted some wild beasts. Spider was zoned out. A wild ghoul appeared. As she refocused she heard Eagle mumble something. The ghoul turned into dust. Spider was perplexed.

Sean: Code Red! We’re being ambushed.

Eagle and Spider threw some spells towards the other ghouls to distract them. They then ran off towards Hagrid’s hut. As they reached the hut, Eagle immediately hugged Meiji. Dolphin and Hagrid were worried.

Henry: Are you guys okay?

Diana: Yeah we are.

Hagrid: What happened?

Sean: Ghouls appeared. We distracted them and ran straight towards your hut.

Diana: Did you complete it?

Henry: Yeah. I barely did it.

The map was complete. It was dubbed “The Guide for a Shadow.” By saying, “Bound by darkness, follow the path with faith,” the map was unlocked. And by saying, “Black and white have mixed,” the details on the map disappeared. It was more advanced than the Marauders map. Spider saw one of her father’s employees in Professor Flitwick’s office. She changed out of her outfit and left. Sean and Henry walked back to the common room when they were confronted by someone.

Sean & Henry: Holy shit!

Nora: Hey there.

Sean: What are you doing here?

Nora: I know you guys were doing weird stuff in school now.

Henry: You have no proof.

Nora: I saw Sean’s weird running style and you were in Hagrid’s hut doodling on a piece of paper.

Sean & Henry: Oh.

Nora: Show me the paper and I won’t turn you guys in.

Henry whispered in Sean’s ear: Should we tell her?

Sean whispered back: Yeah sure. If she tries to mess with us, we will mess her up harder and better.

They then showed her the map. She was astonished with the magic used.

Nora: This is really impressive!

Sean: We know.

Henry: What are you even doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be with your boyfriend? What’s his name?

Sean: I think it’s something like Mendes.

Nora: His name is Cyril Mendes. And I arrived today. One day early.

Sean: The hell happened? You were supposed to come tomorrow.

Nora fell silent. Sean regretted his words.

Nora: We’re fine. Sorry I have to go back to my common room.

She bolted past them.

Henry: Something is wrong.

Sean: I know. Doesn’t look too serious. Hopefully she can fix it out.

They met Diana back in the common room. Diana was curious. She wondered what spell had Sean used in the forest. She wanted to ask him. But she knew he would not tell her. She was just glad she didn’t hear too much complaints from her parents. She can now also able to use a cool map to wander all around the school. She went back to sleep. Sean checked on her. He knew she wanted to know the spell he did. But he could not tell her. He could not tell anyone yet. It was only in his mind and his only. He’ll make sure it stays that way for now. He also wondered about what he had said to Nora. He always had good control over his tongue. He went back to his bed and passed the time. The next day, everyone returned from holidays. School was resuming. Filch had reported about certain figures but nothing came off it. The only ones that knew about the map were Sean, Henry, Diana, Hagrid and Nora. They would not tell anyone about it for a really long time. Sean decided to spend his time after class playing with Meiji. They spent a long time together. Sean liked his company. He felt calm after all the stealthy shenanigans. Life continued, this time with they had possession of an insane map and weird disguises.


	5. Episode 5: Quidditch For Beginners

Quidditch was the most popular wizarding sport in the United Kingdom. Although it got inspirations from various other sports, it was an original creation. Every year in Hogwarts, the four houses competed against each other for the Quidditch Cup. The tournament for 2005/2006 began in November 2005. Each month held one match. The four houses were put into a group. The top two teams in the group will go head to head in the final. The scores of the group matches were:

Ravenclaw-300:150-Gryffindor

Hufflepuff-270:280-Slytherin

Gryffindor-120:200-Hufflepuff

Ravenclaw-80:200-Slytherin

Hufflepuff-380:270-Ravenclaw

Slytherin-110:210-Gryffindor

Hufflepuff and Slytherin ended up finishing in the top two of the group. In May 2006, the final was held. The stands were filled with yellow and green colors. Betting rounds were going nuts. For Hufflepuff, the team members were,

Keeper: Jarvis O’Shea (7th)

Chasers: Larry Fields (5th), Klaus Johannsen (6th), Mahira Dixit (6th)

Beaters: Matthew Gibson (5th), Ally McGuinty (7th)

Seeker: Tanya Phillips (5th)

For Slytherin it was,

Keeper: Emile Hargreeves (5th)

Chasers: Ray Noviat (5th), Mimi Larson (4th), Artemis Croll (7th)

Beaters: Barry Crews (6th), Andrea Ramirez (7th)

Seeker: Phyllis Von Sherp (6th)

Almost every student was seen in attendance. The announcer was Sean Wittford. He began his announcing.

Sean: Hello fellow wizards! Welcome to the final of the Quidditch World Cup, the only thing that was not screwed over by Lord Voldemort during his Hogwarts time. In the final we have from one side the barely kind, somewhat humble and food lovers of Hufflepuff. On the other side, we have the pureblooded snob jobs of Slytherin. Merlin’s beard what is going to happen in this game?!

The match began at 12:00 pm. The players began moving around with their brooms. Emile and Matt and the best brooms for each team.

Sean: Ray has the quaffle. He’s looking forward to shooting it through the hoop.

Ray gets hit by a bludger wacked by Matt.

Sean: Matty has knocked down Ray.

The quaffle came in the hands of Mahira.

Sean: Mahira is swerving all across the field. She looks like determined.

Mahira was able to score 10 points for Hufflepuff.

Sean: 10 points for the Huffs. Now we have to witness all this crap till one of these seeker catches a snitch.

The teams kept trading points. Two hours had passed away. Nobody scored for half an hour. The seekers and beaters kept getting hit by bludgers. The crowd looked bored. In the crowd,

Diana: God this is boring!

Tom: Why are we even here?

Henry: It’s because of Ray and Matt.

Diana: Why?

Henry: Because they are our friends.

Tom: I regret my life decisions.

Sean was sitting on the sidelines, finishing up his third water bottle,

Sean: My fucking god!

Sean was frustrated.

Sean: How long will this continue? I mean seriously? I’m not even getting paid for this bullshit anyway! Blondie tries to score but of fucking course it’s saved by the goddamn keeper! I legitimately can find more amusement from snorting butterbeer of a dementor’s belly button!

Suddenly, the snitch appeared in front of him. Tanya flew in from of him and tried to catch it. She ended up failing.

Sean: What the flippity flap fuck was that?! Apparently we have a serial announcer destroyer on the field. Do you want to make Meiji an orphan?

Jarvis called for a time out. The teams got some rest. They were exhausted. After a while, the game continued. This time, a certain pattern was noticeable.

Sean: Larry has committed a foul.

One minute later,

Sean: Andrea has committed a foul.

One minute later,

Sean: Ally has committed a foul.

This went on for 10 whole minutes.

Sean: Now Jarvis has committed a foul! Are you for real?! What the actual fuck?! I mean there’s like 700 fouls in Quidditch. Are they trying to break a record? Are they creating new fouls? What is this shit load of fuck?! Merlin’s beard!

The crowd were a bit perplexed but ultimately related to Sean’s outburst. After an hour, another time out was called by Phyllis. The crowd was pretty much dead. Again in the crowd,

Diana:*snores

Tom:*snores

Henry: Wake up.

Tom: Let me sleep.

Henry: Are you really gonna sleep here?

Diana: Yes I will. Sweet dreams now.

Sean needed to entertain them. He assembled some magical instruments.

Sean: This is something I have been practicing since first year. I hope you all enjoy.

Sean sighed. The music began,

Sean: Somebody once told me

Diana and Tom woke up. Henry’s eyes were as wide as Hagrid.

Sean: The world is gonna roll me

Sean sang the song in an American accent. The students recognized what song he was singing. For him, it was a reflex. He thought the audience would find his singing funny, which was the whole point. He continued singing. After he finished, for some odd reason much to his surprise, the crowd cheered.

Henry: Hell yeah!

Tom: That’s our boy!

Diana: I didn’t know he could sing.

Sean’s singing turned out to be the most fun thing about the final. He found it extremely odd. He waited for the timeout to end. Luckily for him, the game continued soon after he finished singing. Slytherin were 90 points ahead of Hufflepuff. They were dominating against them. Suddenly the snitch reappeared.

Sean: Tanya and Phyllis are going after the snitch like it’s a 6% discount coupon at Honeydukes. Phyllis is ahead. But Tanya’s speed is increasing rapidly.

Tanya and Phyllis were duking it out. They both extended their arms. A bludger was coming after their way. The bludger hit Tanya. Phyllis went ahead but realized the snitch also got hit. Tanya was on the ground. She got up and showed the audience the snitch. The yellow side of the crowd cheered loudly. The green side seemed down and tired.

Sean: Tanya has caught the snitch! Hufflepuff have won 2006 Quidditch Cup 420 by 360! I can finally finish this goddamn fucking bullshit!

The Hufflepuff students held a party. The cup was placed in Professor Neville’s office. He gave a speech.

Neville: Students of Hufflepuff, I am proud of your team today. Jarvis, our captain lead the team beautifully. Larry, Klaus and Mahira did a fine job as chasers. Their movements were great. Matt and Ally played the game like it was baseball. And of course the MVP of the game, without a doubt is Tanya. She took a hit and was still able to catch the snitch. Congratulations everyone. Cheers!

Everyone raised their glasses. They all took a sip. They then all spat it out.

Matt: Eww!

Jarvis: Why is it so salty?

Sam: I have no clue.

Neville: Calm down students.

Jarvis: Who would do this?

Sam: This feels like a prank.

Tanya: Hold on. Who is known for pranks?

They all thought for a moment. Matt immediately realized to it was.

Matt: SEAN!

Sean, Henry and Diana were spying on them. As soon as they heard Sean’s name, they left. They were laughing their asses off.

Sean: Fuck yes!

Henry: The salty drink never gets old.

Diana: They got what they deserve for giving us the worst game of Quidditch imaginable.

The next day, Sean was approached by Headmistress McGongall.

McGonagall: You were the announcer of the finals. Weren’t you?

Sean: Yes I was.

McGonagall: I have to say that you did an excellent job. Though I would have preferred it without the foul language, you kept the audience engaged. Especially with your singing.

Sean: It was improvisation.

McGonagall: You have quite a talent. Maybe perhaps you can use it in the future.

Sean: If you find me fit, then I can try.

McGonagall: Very well. Now off you go.

Sean was then later approached by Matt.

Matt: What the hell man!?

Sean: What?

Matt: Why did you hex our drinks?

Sean: What are you talking about?

Matt: Because of you, I now tasted salt in my chocolate cake this morning.

Sean: Why were you eating a chocolate cake in the morning?

Matt: Why should I not?

Sean: True that.

Matt: But still not cool.

Sean: Consider it revenge for the shitty match you guys showcased.

Matt: Hey!

Sean: What defense do you have?

Matt: There were many points. More than all the other matches.

Sean: The game went on for more than six fucking hours mate!

Matt: It was not my fault!

Sean: Then who is at fault here?

Matt: The snitch.

Sean: That damn snitch!

Matt laughed. Sean joined in on the laughter. They went to join up their friends.

Tom: Hey there X-Factor.

Sean: Shut thy mouth!

Ray: Congratulations Matt!

Matt: It was a good game.

Sean, Henry and Tom glared at him.

Matt: Okay! The game sucked donkey cock.

Ray: I know. My hands still feel like jelly.

Matt: My groin is numb.

Tom: Hold on.

Others: What?

Tom: Aren’t we forgetting something?

Everyone began thinking.

Serena came up to them,

Serena: The exams.

Sean: Oh shit!

Henry: The exams!

Ray: OWLS!

Matt: Merlin’s beard!

Tom: This next month will be worse than the final.

Serena: It sure will be.

All the boys aside from Tom left.

Serena: Hey Tom.

Tom: Yeah?

Serena: Want to study for the exams together?

Tom: Yeah sure, why not? It’ll prove to be better than if I read with those chums.

Serena: Yeah it might.

Tom: So tonight?

Serena: Yep. Tonight.

They agreed on the deal. Tom looked happy.

Sean: Scored a date huh?

Tom: It’s not a date. We’re studying.

Sean: A study date then.

Tom: My god!

They both shared a chuckle. The next month will be a challenge though. Even Sean knew that. Nobody had a clue on what to do. They needed to figure it out. But that could be done later. The boys enjoyed the day with their pets. Sean was with his dog Meiji while Henry was with his cat Bubsy. The others boys spend most of their time petting Meiji and Bubsy since they didn’t have any. They had some lively chats about Quidditch, food and taxes. But the mood went down after the realization of OWLS. The gang members had to figure out their next month’s schedule in order to pass the exams. But for now, they enjoyed life with each other.


	6. Difference of Opinions

The holidays were long gone. It was February 1st. Class was going as usual.

Diana: I want to eat something.

Matt: What do you want to eat?

Henry: Hmm….chocolates?

Diana: Yes!

Henry: Ok then. Let’s get some white chocolate.

Matt: Really?

Henry: What?

Matt: White chocolate sucks. Dark chocolate is the best.

Henry: You’re wrong.

Diana: Yes you are. Clearly milk chocolate is superior.

Matt: Are you two babies?

Diana: What are you saying?

Matt: Milk and white are for pussies. The real ones eat pure dark cocoa.

Henry: I like the taste of it. Also dark just tastes bitter to me.

Matt: See? You are a pussy.

Diana: Oh shut up. Milk chocolate is the best mixture of both.

Matt: It’s called milk chocolate. There’s more milk than cocoa. You don’t see cake with mostly frosting.

Henry: Exactly. White chocolates tastes sweet and most of the nutrients of milk remain and don’t get ruined by the cocoa.

Diana: Who are you to say that? Yours is only milk. Might as well just freeze it can keep it in our mouth.

Henry: That makes no sense.

The trio continued bickering. Their shouts were echoing around the room.

Sean: What the hell is going on?!

Diana: Oh hey Sean.

Henry: Can you please help us?

Sean: Help with what?

Matt: Help us figure out what the best chocolate is? Please?

Sean: I don’t know about you guys but I once tasted chocolates with fruits and nuts. That thing ruined my taste buds for an entire week.

Diana: Eww! Why did you eat it?

Sean: Someone gave it to me as a gift. She wanted to see if I liked it.

Matt: What did you say?

Sean: I told her it tasted like ass.

Henry: Least you were honest.

Matt: God that chocolate must suck.

Diana: It does. It ruins the chocolate.

Henry: Whoever made it should be executed by the dark lords.

The trio continued talking about it.

Serena: What is going on?

Sean: These three fuckers were arguing about chocolates.

Nora: Seriously?

Sean: Yup. They were more invested in it than all the horny boys of Hogwarts are in you. God that must be a waste of time. How do you attract so many guys?

Nora: How am I supposed to know?

Serena: Ok understood. I have a question. Have you seen Tom?

Sean: I have no clue.

On the other side of the school, Tom was sitting all alone. He was fiddling with his fingers. He looked deep in thought. Mary found him and approached.

Mary: Hey there.

Tom: Oh hey Mary.

Mary: Are you okay?

Tom: Yeah I am. Why?

Mary: You’re stressed.

Tom: Is it that obvious?

Mary: Is it about Serena?

Tom: Unfortunately, yes.

Mary: I guessed correct.

Tom: How the hell do you and Ray make it work so well?

Ray and Mary had been dating since the third year. He asked her out for Hogsmeade. Ever since then, they seemed pretty happy.

Mary: Communication.

Tom: Huh?

Mary: You need to talk to her.

Tom: It’s not that easy.

Mary: I know. Love is not an easy matter. But by talking, the other person will understand you far much better.

Tom: That’s some good advice.

Mary: I’m rooting for you.

Ray found them both talking.

Ray: What are you guys doing?

Tom: I have to go. Gotta figure something out.

Tom bolted away from them.

Ray: What’s with him?

Mary: Just helping him get a girl.

Ray: Is that so?

They both shared a passionate kiss. After a few classes, it was lunch break. The group decided to seat together.

Matt: This is delicious!

Diana: We eat this every day.

Matt: Still does not devalue it.

Sean: Good food is good food.

Ray: Preach brother!

Tom was too busy looking at Serena on the other side of the table.

Matt: Looking at the princess huh?

Tom: What?

Diana: Don’t be shy Tom.

Nora: She is truly beautiful!

Henry: If Nora says so then it’s probably right.

Nora: What do you mean?

Matt: You’re the best looking girl in school. Isn’t that right Sean?

Sean: I mean her face is pretty.

Henry: Oooh.

Sean: Pretty laughable that is.

Matt spat out his drink. Ray began choking on his food. Diana’s green eyes were blinking at the speed of a golden snitch.

Nora: Are you serious?!

Sean: What?

Nora: Do you really have to mock me all the time?

Sean: Ok there Norris.

Henry chuckled at that. Nora kept glaring her blue eyes at Sean. Even Tom stopped looking at Serena to witness the madness.

Tom and Serena had some prefect duties that day. They talked during those times the most. He felt nervous thinking about that he should say to her every time.

Ray: Hey there Romeo.

Tom: I need your help.

Ray: What do you want?

Tom: I want to impress Serena.

Ray: How exactly do you want to impress her?

Tom: That is what I want to know.

Ray: Just talk to her.

Tom: She probably just thinks of me as her friend.

Ray: That might not be true. I thought Mary ignored me the first two years because she hated me. Turns out she was just nervous to talk to me. When I asked her out in the third year, she was over the moon.

Tom: You got lucky.

Ray: All you have to do is take a shot.

Tom: Okay. I can do that.

Ray: Of course you can.

The day went by. Classes were all finished. The group were chilling in a room.

Tom: Ayyo!

Sean: Hello there.

Tom: General Kenobi.

Matt: What are you guys saying?

Henry: You wouldn’t get it.

Mary, Diana and Nora also joined in.

Mary: Hello boys.

Matt: Hello sister in-law.

Mary: What?

Henry: Just kidding.

Ray: For now.

Mary: Ray!

They all shared a chuckle. Tom and Serena shared a look. Tom’s face had a blush.

Diana: Eww! Love!

Matt: What’s wrong with love?

Henry: It’s overrated.

Matt: It’s not. It’s the source of all happiness.

Diana: You have been reading too many romance novels there Matt.

Henry: I’m shocked he even understood anything from them.

Sean: At least Ray and Mary are an interesting pair. Unlike Nora’s.

Nora: What the hell are you trying to say?

Sean: Girl, you’re all looks. I doubt you even have a personality. Seriously how does that boyfriend of yours keep up his façade?

Nora: Shut thy mouth!

Sean: I’m just saying the truth. I mean you are most love crazy here yet you do nothing love like with him. I even doubt he is even interested in you like that.

Nora: You don’t know anything!

Sean: I can read people Nora.

Nora: Shut your fucking mouth you piece of shit! I fucking hate you!

Nora walked away from the room. Everyone glared at Sean.

Sean: Shit!

Henry: Well you have fucked up.

Sean: You guys can keep up your talk. I’ll go and fix my mess.

Sean left to find Nora. Tom and Serena left for their duties. Ray and Mary left to make out in a secret place.

Diana: Guess Sean hit her in a real sensitive spot.

Matt: It was a dick move by him.

Henry: You know, all day we have fighting with each other for having different opinions. But the truth is, we will always have different opinions. That’s what makes us human. We gotta respect it.

Matt: Wow! You are finally fulfilling your Ravenclaw potential.

Diana: You’re right Henry. We’re so stupid for fighting over this shit!

Matt: I know. Why don’t we get the chocolates then?

Henry: Let’s get all three types of them.

Diana: Absolutely.

Sean found Nora sitting in a bench, crying her eyes out. Her beautiful, long and straight brown hair was in a mess. Sean at first stared at her for a moment to decide on what he should say. He had absolutely no clue. He sat on the other side of the bench. Nora glared at him, her eyes were glazing. But she looked away. His entire mind was blank. He then moved closer and offered her his shoulder. She looked at him curiously.

Nora: What are you doing?

Sean: I’m offering you a shoulder to cry on.

Nora: Are you serious?

Sean: Yes I am.

Nora: Why are you doing this soon after saying all that shit?!

Nora was real mad. Sean started to become nervous. He had no clue how to comfort someone.

Nora: Why?

Sean: When having a mental breakdown, someone should be there for the other person as comfort.

Nora: Why are you doing this?

Sean: The others were busy so I volunteered to come here instead.

Nora: Oh. Okay.

She was suspicious. “Why would he want to comfort me after saying those things? It could just be regret,” she thought to herself. She figured out he was lying. But decided to play along. She laid her head on his shoulder and cried a little.

Sean: Will you tell me what happened with Cyril?

Nora: What?

Sean: You mentioned him during Christmas break. After I said something harsh, you became sad and went to your common room.

Nora: You remember that?

Sean: Of course I did. I regretted saying it then. Will you tell me what exactly happened if you don’t mind?

Nora sighed and then explained.

Nora: Ok then. We had a huge fight during Christmas. He wanted to take the next step on our relationship. I was not prepared. He was becoming more impatient as he grew. The first two years were going great. But it was not enough for him. Because of the fight, I returned early.

Nora sniffed. She wiped her tears on his coat. He patted her on the head.

Nora: We wrote letters to each other the next week. A whole two weeks later, he sends me a letter saying he wants to break up and pointed out all of my flaws.

Sean stayed silent. He did not know how to comfort her in that situation. She understood. She began crying harder and pulled him in for a hug. He was shocked. She wrapped her hands around his back. Sean was hesitant at first but decided to hug her back. She cried into his chest.

On the other side, Tom and Serena were doing some real boring prefect stuff.

Serena: Sean sure was a dick.

Tom: It’s just an act. He will make it up. I am sure about it.

Serena: I believe you. Things have not been going well for her.

Tom: You are a good friend to her.

Serena: Well you are not a bad friend yourself.

Tom: To you or Nora?

Serena: Both.

Tom: I’ll take that as a compliment.

Tom felt a little hurt when hearing the word friend. She was looking away too. He deduced that she was hiding her blush. This gave him some hope.

Nora finished crying. Sean fixed her hair and wiped her tears.

Nora: Thank you for that.

Sean: You shouldn’t thank me. I’m the reason you were crying.

Nora: Well you are also the reason why I’m not crying now.

Sean: I’ll try not to hurt you in the future.

Nora: You should be more nice to people.

Sean: I tried. Didn’t work out.

Nora: Maybe it will later.

Sean: It could.

Sean looked at her attentively.

Nora: What is it?

Sean: Now your face looks laughable.

Nora pouted but then laughed along with him at his joke.

Sean: I didn’t really mean what I said back there. I was just spitting.

Nora: Okay sure.

Nora realized their hands were together. Sean pulled away.

Nora: I still find it hard to think that a friend of mine said those things.

Sean: I’m your friend?

Nora: Of course you are! Why are you asking that question?

Sean: We don’t really hang out. We can’t relate with our interests either.

Nora: A wise man once told me, “Friendship is not about spending time or sharing interests. It’s about having a sweet mental connection with the other person.”

Sean: Who said that?

Nora: You did.

Sean: I said it?

Nora: Yup. Last year.

Sean: You remembered it?

Nora: It was good advice.

He got up and offered her a walk. She gladly accepted. They continued to have a lovely chat. They were then in front of the Gryffindor common room.

Nora: Thank you Sean.

Sean: Can you please stop thanking me?

Nora: If it annoys you, then no.

She giggled. He smiled. They bid their farewells. Sean walked back to the Ravenclaw common room. He realized that she genuinely felt happy when he was acting nice around her. He then mumbled to himself, “I really should stop being a dickhead.” He knew that he had to take lessons on how to a good boy from Meiji. But that was for later. He hoped to keep the promise he made to her.


	7. Pets, Leaves and Laughter

Two months of the school year had gone by. After the first day and the dueling competition, nothing interesting happened in that year so far. Sean, Henry and Diana were getting bored out of their minds.

Sean: God this is boring!

Henry: Tell me about it.

Diana: Absolutely nothing is happening. It’s all just baseless rumors flying around.

Sean: Most are bullshit anyway.

Henry: We have to do something interesting. Anything.

They all thought in unison.

Sean: I have a plan.

That day, they had Herbology class. Professor Neville talked about two specific plants.

Neville: These leaves are from Alihotsy trees. Since I’m your professor, I must warn all to not eat these leaves. I repeat, do NOT eat these leaves. It will cause hysterical laughter for quite some time. You will laugh so hard that your laugh will resemble that of a hyena. That is why it is also called Hyena trees.

The Ravenclaw trio became curious.

Henry: Got an idea?

Sean: Yup.

Diana: Who will get it?

Sean: You are our best choice.

Diana: Okay then.

Professor Neville then taught them some survival tips when roaming in the wild. Everyone liked him as a professor. Although it was not his favorite subject, Sean considered him as his favorite professor.

Neville: The next plant we will talk about is Thaumatagoria. It is an extremely rare magical plant. Luckily, we have a few as a sample. This plant was used by Potioneer Zygmunt Budge to make the Potion of All Potential.

He showed them the plant. The trio theorized.

Diana: How about this?

Sean: We can also use it to make the potion for future.

Henry: How many do we take?

Sean: Just one. We’re going to examine it to find more.

They went ahead with their plan. They all wore cotton and ear muffs. Henry then picked up a flower pot.

Henry: Professor?

Neville: Yes?

Henry: What is this?

He showed the pot. Before Neville could object, Sean pulled the plant out of the pot. The plant turned out to be a mandrake. Its cries filled the entire room. The other Ravenclaw and Slytherin students covered their ears. Neville unfortunately passed out. While this was happening, Diana managed to take their desired plants. Sean then took the mandrake and threw it out of the room and through a window. Its cries eventually stopped. The class was abandoned. The headmistress had arrived in the ward.

McGonagall: What happened Professor Longbottom?

Neville: I don’t remember too well. All I know is I fell unconscious because of a mandrake.

McGonagall: Again?

Neville: It was 13 years ago.

Meanwhile in the Ravenclaw common room,

Henry: So we got the plants right?

Diana: We do.

Henry: What exactly do we do tomorrow?

Sean: Ahem. Diana will sneak into the kitchens and replace the normal tea leaves with the Alihotsy leaves. The professors and others will drink it. Then the fun stuff will begin.

They all did their best villain laugh impersonations. The next day, Diana sneaked into the kitchens. Sean and Henry kept the house elves distracted by playing catch with a ball made of rolled up socks. She successfully replaced the drinks. The Alihotsy leaves worked the same way as normal tea leaves, with consequences. During breakfast, they were silently waiting for the professors to drink their tea.

Nora: Why are you guys so silent?

Tom: Yeah exactly.

Emile: You guys are acting suspicious.

Sam: What did you guys do this time?

They said nothing. The professors drank their tea. Suddenly, the Headmistress began laughing hysterically. Everyone was shocked. Flitwick and Slughorn joined in on the laughter. One after another, all of them began laughing. Some of the students were amused. Some of them were annoyed. While some of them were confused out of their minds. The professors truly sounded like a pack of hyenas. The trio also began laughing thankfully not like hyenas.

Tom: So you guys did it.

Sean: You have no proof.

Sam: How did you guys even pull this off?

Diana: No comment.

The trio were very proud of this accomplishment. Eventually, the professors stopped laughing. Things were looking pretty serious.

McGonagall: What on earth happened?

Flitwick: I do not have the slightest clue.

Amelia: My jaw hurts.

Neville: I thought your jaw game was good.

Slughorn: At least I wasn’t fooled all by myself this time.

The professors tried to investigate who the culprits could be. But they unfortunately were unable to discover them. The trio realized this.

Sean: Mission successful.

Diana: Yes!

Henry: I’m glad they did not catch us.

Sean: They would not have had any proof.

Diana: So what are we going to do now?

Sean: Let’s have a normal class again.

They had Transfiguration with Hufflepuff that day. Before that, it was Charms with Professor Flitwick. He talked slowly due to laughing like a hyena some time ago. He was also afraid to drink his tea as he thought it could be filled with the essence of the Alihotsy leaves. He still managed to teach the class. He taught them about the Substantive Charm. He felt a little bad about pranking him. Transfigurations was taken by Professor Laura Nichols.

Laura: Today you will all try to conjure different types of animals. One by one, all of you will try to conjure an animal. Try not to mess things up.

One by one, students came and conjured animals. Most of them failed. There were frog-rabbit hybrids. There were horses the size of little ducks. Diana summoned a trout fish. It died on the spot. The entire mood of the class went down. Sean wanted to raise the mood. He stood upon. He readied his wand. He said his spell. He waved his wand and white fur started appearing. They turned into a little tornado. When the tornado vanished, a white shiba inu was sitting in the middle of the room where the tornado was. The entire room looked at the dog. It was the cutest thing they had ever seen with their eyeballs. Sean picked up the dog and began petting it. The dog immediately settled himself in Sean’s arms.

Diana: Aww!

Sam: He’s so cute!

Henry: Where are its balls?

Sean: I have no clue. I know it’s a boy. Maybe it came pre-packaged with a vasectomy.

Matt: What are you going to name it?

Sean: Meiji.

Everyone: Hello there Meiji!

Meiji barked. He sent an indication to them that he liked his name. The mood of the entire room went up. But the nervousness levels of the students also went up. Professor Laura looked very impressed.

Laura: Good job there Sean. That was one of the best uses of conjuration I’ve seen.

Sean: Thank you professor.

Meiji: *barks

The other students felt pressured to do better. Some of the students did well while others failed. At last, it was Tanya’s turn. Her hands were sweating. She did not know how to top Sean’s spell. She tried to steady her hands. But they were shaking even more. She waved her hand and said, “Serpensortia.” A long slithering snake appeared out of thin air. Sam screamed bloody murder. Everyone began panicking. Tanya stood there like a statue, staring at her conjuration. The snake almost attacked Meiji. The dog whimpered. Sean became furious. He stuck his wand at the snake. The snake hissed which sounded like a groan. He then took Tanya’s wand and touched his neck with it. He then spelled out some words. It sounded foreign to him. The snake suddenly fell asleep. Everyone was shocked. Sean then threw the snake away from the classroom. The class was called off. They all went out of the classroom. Sean picked up Meiji and also left.

Diana: Are you okay?

Sean: Yup. I am.

Henry: What did you say?

Sean: I don’t know.

Diana: What do you mean you don’t know?

Sean: I just felt like it. Even though it wanted to hurt Meiji, I didn’t want to kill it. So I did it and made it fall asleep.

Henry: People will talk about it.

Henry turned out to be right. The next day, everyone talked about it.

Tom: You spoke Parseltongue?!

Sean: What?

Ray: Don’t you dare fucking lie!

Sean: I just mimicked the snake’s voice.

Emile: But you still spoke the language of the snake.

Sean: What’s the big deal?

Emile: It was one of the languages Lord Voldemort was fluent in.

Sean: I know it.

Tom: You do know what we’re trying to say right?

Sean: Yes I do.

Ray: Are you gonna be fine?

Sean: Don’t worry.

Unfortunately for him, his brain was thinking like crazy. The ideas were running rampant. He was a very curious human being. One of the downfalls of it was overthinking. He wanted some peace of mind. He met up with Diana and Henry.

Sean: Hola senors!

Diana & Henry: Hola!

Henry was petting his cat Bubsy. It was a black cat. Diana was also with her cat. Its name was Snickers. Sean called for Meiji. The dog came running towards him. He petted the dog. He felt really connected with the dog. The dog understood his emotions. It read his face and knew what to do. The trio then talked and enjoyed the day with their lovely pets.


	8. Episode 8: Ordinary Wizarding Level

The one thing that students dreaded most had arrived. It was exam season in Hogwarts. The fifth year students had to take the OWL exams. It stands for Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is administered by the Wizarding Examinations Authority. It is an important exam as the result decide if certain students will take the subjects in the future years of their education. It also impacts what sort of occupation they will have for the future. For these reasons, it is the second most important exam for wizards behind NEWT. Preparation for this exam requires immense amounts of hard work. Students hated it.

The Hufflepuff house is for the kind and humble students. It is also for those who did not fit the quotas for the other houses. They were not calm during the exam season.

Matt: Holy shit!

Sam: Why? Just why?

Larry: The syllabus is preposterous!

Tanya: Tell me about it.

Matt: Why do we have to go through all this fucking shit?

Larry: For our future apparently.

Annette: Merlin’s beard!

Tanya: How do we prepare for it?

Matt: By cheating?

Tanya: Any other ideas?

Sam: We could you know… study.

Larry: But it is so boring. Why can’t we just do the spells and call it a day?

Tanya: It would still be hard to remember all the spells to do.

Sam: Plus some of the theory might turn out to be easier than the practical spells.

Matt: May the odds be in our favor.

Annette: I doubt it.

The Gryffindor house was considered the most prestigious house due to Harry Potter being a previous member of the house. Even their students were stressed.

Nora: I hate my life.

Tom: Me too.

Serena: Me three.

Tom: How do we study all of these spells and also perform them?

Nora: My heart will be backflipping due to my anxiety.

Serena: This is honestly too much pressure for 15 year olds.

Nora: How do we prepare?

Tom: Serena and I will study together after our prefect duties.

Nora: Oh.

Serena: I hope you don’t mind.

Nora: No I don’t. I’ll just study with Diana. Have fun you two lovebirds.

Tom & Serena: Shut thy mouth!

The OWL was for 2 weeks. There were a total of 12 OWLs. Each student had to take at least 7 OWLs since they had to select 7 subjects as their main ones. The stress levels of the students were at an all-time high. They began studying like mad people.

The Slytherin house had a tarnished reputation ever since the Dark Lord was defeated. Even though all the students hated Voldemort, they were overshadowed by the fact that he used to be in their house.

Emile: The OWLs are coming up.

Sasha: My goodness!

Ray: What’s wrong?

Sasha: All this stress. Instead of gaining knowledge, I’m losing it.

Mary: This is because you are putting too much pressure on your head.

Ray: If it continues like this, all of our heads will boil off.

Emile: I am fairly confident that I will achieve at minimum 7 O’s.

Sasha: Woah!

Mary: How many subjects do you even have?

Emile: Nine.

Ray: Let’s see if your prediction does actually come true.

It would be seem that since intelligence is one of the key requirements to join the house, the students of Ravenclaw would be the best at OWLs. Although the students were smart, they had the most amount of pressure on them about it compared to other houses. Something interesting did occur in their house.

Henry & Diana: Twelve?!

Sean: Yup. Twelve.

Henry: You mean to tell me that you have to take 12 OWLs?

Sean: Yes I do.

Diana: How the hell did that happen?

Sean: I barely attended some classes. I thought all of this would help me gain more knowledge.

Henry: Did it help?

Sean: Kind of.

Diana: Then you are utterly screwed.

Sean: Will you guys help me?

Diana: I’m already busy.

Henry: Well… I can tutor you.

Sean: Oh thanks my dude.

The month was passing by. The exams were in a week. The students felt like ticking time bombs. They were one click away from blowing up.

Tom and Serena had been studying together. They discuss what type of answers they would write for the theory. They also practiced spells on each other. No harmful ones of course.

Emile was studying continuously for that entire month. His father was a ministry official. He always looked up to his father. He wanted to be just like him. For this reason, he studied very hard.

Diana and Nora grouped up with other girls to study. They only joined just to get more information for the exams. During these group sessions, Diana and Nora clicked. They talked about many things surrounding their lives. They immediately became good friends.

On the other hand, Henry was regretting his life decisions. He had never tutored anyone. He also never met anyone like Sean as well. So the two things definitely did not mix well. Sean would theorize about random shit most of the time.

Sean: And that’s how crumple horned snorkacks could actually be rhinos painted in different colors.

Henry: You want to know something?

Sean: What?

Henry: I think you will fail.

Sean: What?!

Henry: You aren’t taking this seriously. You waste your time. You picked twelves subjects like a goddamn idiot.

Sean: I have reasoning behind it.

Henry: Well I don’t want to hear it.

Sean: What do you mean?

Henry: I will no longer tutor you.

Sean: What?!

Henry: Figure out your shit first.

Henry left to study on his own. Sean was perplexed. He needed to figure out how he could pass the OWLs. After an hour, he figured out a plan.

It was now the exam period. Twelves exams were given in fourteen days. The stress and anxiety levels of Hogwarts were at the level of Mount Everest. The two weeks felt like torture. After it ended, there were loud cheers. It came from the students.

In the Hufflepuff side,

Matt: Well well well.

Sam: It’s finally over!

Annette: I know!

Larry: I can finally sleep again.

Tanya: My head feels so much lighter.

In the Gryffindor side,

Tom: Yahoo!

Serena: Woah!

Nora: Slow down you two.

Tom: We won’t.

Nora: Well the exams are over.

Serena: And so is the tension.

Tom: I am glad. The exam was really tough. But I managed to pull it off.

Serena: Me too.

Nora: Hopefully this peace lasts longer. I have to go visit Diana.

Serena: Ok sure.

Nora then left the conversation to meet Diana. Tom and Serena were still there.

Tom: Thank you.

Serena: For what?

Tom: For all the helpful tips you provided. They came in handy.

Serena: Well. I want to say thanks too.

Tom: I wasn’t that much help.

Serena: I’m not only thanking you for studying with me. I’m thanking for spending time with me.

Tom: Oh. I’m glad.

They both shared a look.

Tom: Hey?

Serena: What?

Tom: Wanna go to Hogsmeade together?

Serena: Really? Like right now?

Tom: Oh no. When school restarts.

Serena: Won’t that be a long time?

Tom: It will. That is not good.

Serena: I have something to fix that.

Serena gave him a peck on the cheek. They were both blushing. Tom took his shot. He pulled her in and put his lips on hers. The kiss was passionate. After they pulled away, she giggled. Tom smiled. They both knew it was the beginning of something between them.

In the Slytherin side,

Ray: Fuck yes!

Emile: Lower your voice Ray.

Ray: Shut thy mouth!

Mary: Yeah shut it.

Sasha: This bullshit of a test is finally over.

Emile: I am very satisfied with my efforts.

Ray: Me too. I hope we get good grades.

Mary: We shall see.

In the Ravenclaw side,

Sean: Holy mother of Jesus Christ!

Diana: We did it.

Henry: We sure did.

Sean: My mind feels fuzzy.

Henry: I am worried about the results though.

Diana: Don’t worry too much about it.

Nora met them in the hallways.

Diana: Nora!

Nora: Diana!

They both shared a hug. Sean was sitting on the floor.

Nora: Why are you on the floor?

Sean: Huh? Oh just glad that this is over.

Henry: Only a madman would not be.

They all shared a chuckle. A few days later, the results were announced. Not everything went to plan.

For Hufflepuff,

Matt: WHAT?!?! My dad is gonna beat me!

Tanya: I got 6 OWLs.

Annette: My grades are average at best.

Larry: No they aren’t. They’re still good.

Sam: At least I got 5 OWLs.

For Gryffindor,

Nora: Really? Just 6 O’s?

Tom: Are you not pleased by them?

Nora: Not that. Just thinking.

Serena: Tom and I got identical scores.

Tom: Won’t they notice something?

Serena: Who cares about them?

For Slytherin,

Emile: My disappointment is unmeasurable. My entire week is ruined.

Sasha: What’s wrong?

Emile: I only got 6 O’s.

Ray: Geez. Are you really sad about that?

Mary: At least you got better than Sasha here. She fucked up real bad.

Sasha: My mother is going to make some dementors kiss me.

Ray, Mary & Emile: EWW!

For Ravenclaw,

Henry: What did you get?

Diana: 5 O’s, 2 E’s and an A. You?

Henry: 7 O’s and An E.

Diana: Where the hell is Sean?

Henry: Want to check his results?

Diana: Yeah sure.

They could not believe it with their eyeballs. They both screamed, “WHAT?!” Everyone went to check on them. As soon as they saw the paper, they screamed the phrase as well. Sean was the fourth person to get 12 OWLs in their exams. The other three were Bill Weasley, Percy Weasley and Barty Crouch Junior. But that was not the most impressive feat. He also managed to get 12 O’s, gaining the perfect score one can get. Everyone immediately started looking for him. They all found him in a weird spot. He was hanging upside down by a tree. Nora pushed him and he landed on his back.

Sean: OH MY FUCKING GOD! MY BACK!

Nora: What the hell?!

Sean: What is it?

Henry: Do you even know what happened?

Tom: You got 12 OWLs.

Sean: Huh?

Sasha: You got three times more than me.

Sean: So? Three other people got it too.

Matt: That is not even the craziest thing.

Annette: It’s actually the first time this happened in Hogwarts history.

Tanya: You got 12 O’s.

Sean: Eh.

Ray: Are you serious?!

Mary: The hell is wrong with you?!

Emile: I want to chop off my balls!

Everyone started talking. Sean was holding his head and groaning. He screamed loudly.

Sean: SHUT UP!

Everyone went silent.

Sean: I don’t care about the result right now. My heads feels real heavy.

Nora put her hand on his forehead.

Nora: His forehead is real hot. He’s got a fever.

Everyone: Oh shit!

Sean went to the ward for a check-up. He was not well. But he acted as though he was anticipating the fever. Everyone was present. They looked worried. Madam Pomfrey told them that only one person can stay. Nora decided to stay beside him. Meiji was also present. He was given a pass to stay by Madam Pomfrey. He was there to make sure Sean was okay. Everyone assumed he became sick because of the stress of the exams. But Sean knew the truth. He knew why he was sick. But he could not tell them for now. What he needed now was rest, medicine and comforting.


	9. Episode 9: Hurtful Language

“Did you see how he stared at that guy?”

“She is all looks.”

“Can he even talk?”

“That woman is such a slut!”

“He is a real asshole.”

“He is such an airhead.”

“She should get her shit together!”

“They think they are so better than us.”

A normal day of Hogwarts consists of eating meals in the hall and doing classes. One thing that got added into the routine was gossip. Gossip has always been prevalent in the wizarding community. Rita Skeeter singlehandedly caused gossiping culture to sky rocket with her outlandish rumors and information about certain topics. Gossips and rumors were at its peak during Harry Potter’s Hogwarts years.

Nora was taking her afternoon walk around the school. She heard a couple of students whispering. She had heard many rumors during her time in Hogwarts.

“She does look pretty. Too bad her personality is bland.”

“She is all looks.”

“Is there even anything interesting about her?”

“I saw her sitting on a bench hugging Sean. Doesn’t she have a boyfriend? Wow! She truly is a skank!”

“If it weren’t for her looks, nobody would even care about her.”

The rumors were about Nora herself. This is what she thought of them,

“I didn’t want to care about them. I wanted to ignore them so bad. But they kept following me everywhere. They hurt a lot. It just became my shadow. I did not ask for all of these things. People already assumed that I was the pretty girl stereotype just by looking at me. I wanted to enjoy my time here. But these idiots keep ruining it. What’s worse is one of the rumors included Sean. What is he going to think? I know he acts as though he doesn’t care about them. But he showed me a different side of him that day. He showed me his caring side. So maybe he could take offense from it. Who am I kidding? Why am I suddenly thinking about him? He is my friend. But he did ask if he was my friend, which was odd. Still, he did not deserve to be dragged down with those rumors.”

She flicked her hair to the back and walked off a hallway with her thoughts.

Matt was practicing for Quidditch. He heard a couple of kids saying some stuff behind his back. He had also heard many rumors.

“He is such an airhead.”

“What an idiot!”

“He is such a dummy!”

“How did he even pass his classes?”

“He looks weird.”

The rumors about Matt all looked similar. But they all meant the same. His thoughts about the matters were,

“Fuck them! Fuck all of them! They don’t know me. Who are they? I don’t even know their names. They are not my friends. They have no right to judge me. I know I am not smart like others. But they still support me. I allow them to make fun of me because I know they do not mean it. They all care about me. And that is all that matters.”

Whenever he had these kinds of thoughts, he always removed them away by eating and spending time with his friends.

The gossip was a constant. It was always there. Some people chatted away for hours talking about any sort of bullshit.

Tom, Serena and Annette were in a prefect meeting. Some of the juniors they asked for help snickered in some gossip.

“These prefects fucking suck!”

“All they do is order us! Don’t they have better shit to do?”

“Useless pricks!”

“Their ego is bigger than Hagrid.”

“I hope they fail their exams.”

Tom, Serena and Annette were anticipating these types of things. The prefect duty may look prestigious but it is hated by other students.

Tom: Of course they say all that shit.

Sean: Why are you talking about this now?

Serena: We have even more tasks than before. That means more “orders” over them. They are such pricks!

Diana: I never cared about these rumors and gossip things. People had all types of rumors about me. But I barely even heard them. One rumor was that I lit Sean on fire because I hate pranks. But the truth was that they interrupted my dinnertime then.

Sean: Interrupting one’s dinner session is a valid reason to light them on fire.

Annette: I understand all that. But we still work very hard for the school.

The prefects sighed. They worked harder than most other students. But instead of credit, they get shitted on by others.

Emile was studying in the library. He was left alone thinking about some gossip

“He acts so emo.”

“I wonder if he even has balls.”

“Man he is so creepy!”

“Damn know-it all!”

“Did you see the way he looked at that guy? Something is not right.”

“Doesn’t Ray have a girlfriend? Why is he hanging out with Emile?”

Rumors seemed like an odd thing for Emile to care about. These are what he thought about them,

“Looks. A single stare is enough for them to think that I am one creepy dude. I should not care about this. But yet it always appears in my mind. I must prepare myself for the future. For that I need to study. But for other times, I want to spend them with someone else. My mother always mentions that I need to marry a pureblooded witch. I do not think girls are pretty. They are many fascinating ladies here. But it is the fact that I am not attracted to them. I feel more of a connection with men. I always put aside that as just friendship. But maybe it could not be that. I am not attracted to Ray though. He is off limits. But maybe compared to other boys, I swing the other way.”

He calmed himself down. He would not let others dictate his life.

Gossip is considered a sport. It is played with vocal chords and the feelings of other people. People who spend their time on mindless gossips are truly the lowest scum in the universe.

Professor Amelia heard rumors about her constantly.

“I heard she jerked off two guys in the men’s bathroom.”

“I’m pretty sure she’s trying to steal Professor Longbottom from his wife.”

“How the hell did a woman like her even get this job?”

“She probably snogged a ministry official to allow her to teach here.”

“That woman is such a slut!”

Professor Amelia heard all of those rumors. She may not look like it, but she was attentive. Still she was not mentally strong. Her thoughts were eating up her mind listening to all types of gossip,

“Why? Why me? All I wanted to do is teach students. But nobody cares about that. The boys all fantasize over me like a piece of meat. Most of the female students despise me for the fact that I have all of the attention of the men. Nobody cares about me teaching them their subject. DADA was considered a dangerous subject because of the past. I did not care. Only a few paid attention to the studies and Sean was the only one daring enough to try them out. But even all that can’t cover up for the others. Merlin’s beard do I feel pathetic!”

She was in her room crying. Her hands covered her face. Her skin was as pale as the moon. Her sobs filled the room. She wiped her tears and left for a meeting. She saw Sean along the way. Sean greeted her but she could not look at him. Sean saw her face. He saw the tear stains. He decided to give her some space. He was busy looking for Henry.

Henry was minding his own business petting Bubsy. He was thinking about a mill run by rumors.

“He is so fucking weird!”

“Why did Sean even get Meiji? He already has Henry as a dog.”

“Can he even talk?”  
“He is such a loser!”

“He probably needs his mum’s help to talk to other girls.”

The rumors ate up Henry’s mind. His thought were going a mile,

“OH MY FUCKING GOD! Why the fuck are they even talking about me? Just leave me the fuck alone. All I want is the peace of mind. But apparently it is a problem for these fuckers for me to have that. When I don’t talk, they complain. When I do talk, they are surprised and are barely able to talk to me after it. This shit just fucking sucks. The Sean and Meiji one just hurts. He is like a brother of mine. I bet he would bust their asses like a big brother.”

Sean later found Henry. They then went and annoyed their other friends.

Hogwarts was not the same after the battle. Many parts were rebuilt. But the soul of the school felt a bit lost. But unfortunately the bullshit remained in the school. Even the Three Unforgivable Curses would have been unable to move it.

Sam was in the hall eating her lunch. She heard two girls talking about her. She had already heard those things.

“She is so loud!”

“She gets mad real easily.”

“She should get her shit together!”

“She is so fucking annoying!”

“She is a bit of a pussy. Innit?”

Sam was getting real pissed about these statements. Her thoughts were,

“People really have nothing else to do. It’s odd. Instead of doing something interesting with their own lives, they talk and critique others. They themselves are such hypocrites. I really want to smack them in the face. But that would kind of prove them right. That would not matter for me with the imprint of my hand on their face.”

She felt proud about her thoughts as she continued to eat her lunch.

Sean was all over the school. He was always observant. So it is clear he knew about the gossip.

“He acts real weird.”

“He is so mysterious.”

“Doesn’t he seem like Tom Riddle?”

“He is a real asshole.”

“How can one tolerate him?”

“Damn mudblood!”

Sean’s thoughts about the rumors were,

“I do not care about these rumors. Because to me, it is basically hearing my own thoughts. I am really weird. I act real mysterious. Even I do not know what I am doing most of the time. I also act like a real asshole. Nora should know about it. Why does she even call me her friend? She is better off without me. How does one even tolerate me? I guess my friends have Buddha level patience. I do not appreciate the racism though. It is not an okay topic. Also some of my acts remind others about Lord Voldemort. We do look similar. Well his younger version of course. They have been getting suspicious about it. But I will just let them gossip away.”

Sean overthought all of the rumors and did his routine walking around the garden with Meiji.

The day was February 28. The students went to Hogsmeade. Before they left, Sean approached Professor Amelia.

Sean: Excuse me professor?

Amelia: Yes Sean?

He then handed her a wrapped box of chocolates. It looked homemade.

Sean: I thought you might like this.

Amelia knew why he was doing this. He saw her that day. She appreciated the gift. On the way, she enjoyed the chocolates all by herself. She loved them. A huge smile sat on her face for that entire day.

The students were wondering around. They enjoyed sweets and butterbeer. Sean and others were in an open area talking. Henry and Sean were in a conversation about waffles. Suddenly two students from the 4th year saw Henry.

Dipshit 1: He can talk?

Dipshit 2: I know right.

Sean: Fuck off you bloody wankers!

They both left. Henry had enough.

Henry: Fuck this shit!

Everyone went silent.

Henry: I have actually had enough. All of these fuckfaces keep saying whatever bullshit they want. Just why? Why are they so goddamn interested? I wish they could just leave me alone!

The group was in silence. They took in the words Henry said. Nora stood up.

Nora: You’re right. Fuck those bastards! They have absolutely no right to say anything about us.

Sam: Exactly. I wanna hit them real hard with a bludger.

Tom: They can all fuck themselves.

Diana: That’s right!

Serena: I agree with you all.

They all were cheering.

Emile: I have something to say.

They all looked at him.

Emile: You guys are my friends so I trust you guys with this information. Here goes.

Emile sighed. He looked tense.

Emile: I am gay.

They looked at him with wide eyes. Emile confidently confessed in front of them. Sean broke the silence.

Sean: Congratulations!

Emile: Huh?

Sean: I said congratulations.

Emile: For what? For being gay?

Sean: For having the guts to say your piece. All of you. You all should not keep quiet and keep listening to those shitbags.

They all nodded.

Sean: I don’t have anything funny to say. All I have to say is we should give them their own medicine. Like, ‘Goddamn hypocrite’, ‘lifeless twat’ or ‘knockoff Rita Skeeter.’

Henry chuckled.

Sean: I am being serious.

Henry: I’m not laughing at the things you said. I’m imagining saying those things.

They all were imagining it.

Sean: Well good. Let’s not just sit around and talk. Let’s go do something!

Everyone: Yeah!

Sean: Maybe we can wreak some havoc.

Sean: …

Sean: Actually let’s not do that.

They all agreed in unison. They all spent the entire day in enjoyment. Professor Amelia looked at them and felt proud. After that, the rumors did not impact them much. They may not be able to shut them down. But at least they could now have their peace of mind that they wanted for a while.


	10. Episode 10: Grey Flashbacks

The nightmare period which was the OWLs was finally over. It was the end of the school year. At the end of every year, a graduation party is held in the halls. The school was mainly talking about one student at that time. The student’s name was Sean Wittford. He had just achieved not only 12 OWLs but also 12 O’s. People were theorizing how he did it.

“I bet you 10 galleons he cheated.”

“Is he like a robot?”

“He probably paid the professor.”

Nobody knew the exact answer. What was even more confusing was what had happened after the exams were over. They had found Sean hanging upside down a tree. He looked miserable. His hair was messy. His head had been hurting. When they checked him, he had a fever. He was taken to the ward. Madam Pomfrey took care of him. But he still had to stay there for two days. His friends checked on him all the time. Meiji was always present for comfort. He had not left the ward for the entire time. He stood by his father in sickness. His friends at first thought that he had gotten sick from stress. But Henry, Matt and Tom were skeptical.

Diana: This is odd.

Henry: Indeed it is. Sean never cared about these exams.

Matt: We don’t even know what is going on in his head half the time.

Tom: I just wish he would tell us.

The truth was he could not really describe it to anyone. The reason for his headache flashed back into his mind during his sleep.

It was 3 days before exams began. Henry was no longer his tutor. He never really cared about the exams. But the reason for him to be serious this time was to show a middle finger to the ministry about muggleborns. He had taken a book about Muggle Studies. He used a special spell. He did not learn this spell from studying. He created it with the help of his imagination. He used ‘Erembrio’ and the wand absorbed all the knowledge the book had contained. He then used ‘Crolor Riss’ and the wand transferred the knowledge into his brain. He had now gained immense amounts of information within seconds. He tried it with all the books that would have exams based on. A side effect to his spell was headaches. His brain felt like a brick. He was barely able to write the answers without falling on his ass. The headaches later developed to a fever. Thankfully for him, the fever was the last of it. But he could not tell his friends this information. It was private matters for the moment. The second day on the ward was passing by. Nora and Meiji were looking after him. Henry and Diana decided to question him.

Henry: Will you tell us?

Sean: Tell you guys what?

Diana: Many things. Like first, how did you get 12 O’s?

Sean: I imagined myself in a situation with the theories and using the spells. It surprisingly helped.

Henry: Umm… okay then.

Sean: What else?

Henry: How did you get sick?

Sean: Stress. Headaches.

Diana: That’s it?

Nora: Guys just let him rest. He at least deserves that after the exam.

Meiji barked along with Nora, indicating that he agreed with her. Henry and Diana decided to stop pressing him for answers.

The next day, he left the ward. He felt reenergized. As he was walking back to the common room with Meiji, he had another flashback.

It was before the dueling competition. He was practicing spells. He was brainstorming ideas on what spells to use. The rotten pumpkins did not have much chance against him. He knew that in order for him to win, he needed to use a special spell. He had thought of the ‘Reversia’ spell for a long time. He decided that he was going to use it the competition.

He walked along reminiscing of the old memories. He was greeted by his classmates in the common room.

He had been diagnosed with insomnia after his grandmother’s death. He had nightmares about his deceased loved ones. Whenever he tried to sleep, he would see them trying to invite him over to their new home. He had considered it but decided against it. He knew that they were his crazy visions. He continued to live on for them. He needed to live for them.

A few days later, it was the graduation party. The halls were decorated. The banners of the four houses were put up on top of the houses seats of dinner. There were conversation everywhere.

In the Hufflepuffs seats,

Matt: Finally! The school year has come to an end.

Annette: It sure felt like a lifetime.

Tanya: Nah. It felt more like a breeze.

Sam: Except when you summoned that snake once.

Tanya: Shut thy mouth!

They all chuckled except Tanya.

Larry: Don’t worry. Let’s all hope next year goes as well as this one.

They all cheered.

In the Slytherin’s seats,

Emile saw Larry chuckle with the other Hufflepuff students. Ray noticed.

Ray: See something you like?

Emile: What?

Ray: I’ve seen the way you look at him.

Mary: For me it’s clear that you like him.

Emile: Oh come on!

Sasha: No need to act all hetero. You already told us.

Emile: What if he is not like that?

Ray: Won’t hurt to try.

Sasha: Would it?

Emile: I have no clue.

Mary: Well if he hurts you, we will crack his nuts open.

Ray and Sasha chuckled. Emile smiled at his friends.

In the Gryffindor seats,

Nora: So how are you two lovebirds?

Serena: Pretty well.

Tom: Just well?

Tom teased her. She threw a piece of food at him. He caught it with his mouth and enjoyed in his victory.

Serena: What about you?

Nora: What about me?

Tom: What’s going on with you and Sean?

Nora: What do you mean?

Serena: You guys have been looking real cute together.

Tom: You even looked after him when he was sick.

Nora: So? He is my friend.

Serena: I think you want something more.

Nora: No I don’t.

Tom: You sure?

Nora: Yes I am.

Serena: Still hard to believe that you spend time with him after what he had said in the beginning of February.

Nora: That’s in the past. Even you know that he is barely serious. On the inside, he is a cute little teddy bear.

Tom: He sure is.

On the Ravenclaw seats,

Henry: You okay?

Sean: I’m peachy.

Diana: And also bitchy.

Sean: Ah yes. I am the cunt of Hogwarts.

Henry: That you are.

Diana: This year has been a blast.

Henry: Certainly has been.

Diana: Shadows.

Henry: Pranks.

Sean: Meiji.

Diana: This year has probably been the best year of my life.

Henry: I think it is a contender for mine too.

Sean: You could say so. Many important things happened this year. Friendships have been made and many other have grown more.

Diana and Henry looked happy. Sean had a light smile on his face. Headmistress McGonagall at that moment proceeded with her speech.

McGonagall: It is now time for the House Cup. Unlike previous years, this year had a clear winner. This house has done immense amounts of work in school. But before I announce the winning house, I want to congratulate Sean Wittford for achieving 12 Outstanding Results in his OWL exams, becoming the first student to achieve such marks in Hogwarts history. Not only that, he also was a remarkable singing announcer for Quidditch. He was able to keep the whole school lively. Let’s all give him a round of applause.

Sean was confused. Everyone gave him a round applause. His brain was going absolutely bonkers.

“What the flippity flap fuck is going on? Why are they doing this? I do not deserve this. Kept the school alive? More like raised hell. My singing was for comedic purposes. But all my friends are smiling and clapping. Professor Flitwick is looking like a happy penguin. Professor Amelia and Nora are giving me similar types of smiles. Ah who cares? Let’s get on with the party.”

The headmistress continued her speech.

McGonagall: And the House Cup goes to Ravenclaw!

She clapped her hands and the halls were filled with blue decorations. All the banners were that of Ravenclaw. The students of the winning house cheered. They were ecstatic. After the celebrating, everyone began their meals. While eating his meal, Sean experienced another flashback.

He had skipped classes that day. Henry and Diana had no clue where he had gone. They suspected he was hanging out with Meiji. The truth was different. He was apparating all around the place. His goal was to apparate in the school roof. But an accident occurred. He accidentaly apparated near a forest. The trees were green like marijuana. He was mentally cursing himself and preparing to apparate back. But he had heard two people talking. They looked like ministry officials. He hid in a bush and put a protection charm on himself. The conversation the two people had were,

Official 1: These goddamn mudbloods!

Official 2: We gotta do about this. They are just normal people. They do not deserve magic.

Official 1: The muggle world should be ruled over by the wizarding world.

Official 2: I wholeheartedly agree.

Official 1: You’re right. We should apply stricter laws on them.

Official 2: But how can we that? That bitch Hermione will stop us.

Official 1: We’ll handle her when we need to. For now, let’s come up with a plan.

Sean heard the entire conversation. His blood was boiling. He hated the word mudblood. He never cared when someone called him that. But if other people like him where getting fucked over by racist fucks, he knew he had to do something. He needed to figure out something. He had two things in mind. One was the Shadows of the Highlands. Sean, Henry and Diana made it their special team name. He could use their abilities to good use. The second was his magic. He decided to give it a name. He now called it ‘Grey Magic.’ It was a mixture between light and dark as it contained elements from both. It was fueled by imagination. One first needs to imagine the situation that will happen because of the spell. After saying the spell, the situation will come true. But this is not easy. It requires an open mind, a clear vocabulary and the control of emotions. If one is not proper, the spell can go sideways. Unfortunately he could not tell his friends about it for their own sanity. For now he needed to plan out what to do against this shady part of the ministry.

He had now realized these flashbacks were also a part of the side effects. He was silent during the entirety of the party.

Henry: Hey.

Sean: What?

Henry: Are you fine?

Sean: Yeah I am. Why?

Diana: You are awfully silent.

Sean: I was just busy thinking.

Diana: Oh. Okay.

The gang joined up after the party.

Tom: Well then.

Matt: This year was great.

Mary: You could say so.

Diana: This year was the best!

Serena: Many memorable things happened this year.

Emile: Like you getting your arse handed by Sean.

Tanya: There was also me catching the golden snitch.

Henry: I still vividly remember Sean singing All Star.

Nora: There were also those Shadow folks.

Ray: We also got two new lovebirds.

Sean: Overall, this year was good.

They all agreed in unison.

Tom: I hope next year goes well.

Ray: We’re gonna win the Quidditch Cup.

Diana: Hell no! Ravenclaw all the way!

Matt: Give us the House Cup then we might consider your offer.

They all bickered but then laughed it off.

They all then left to pack their bags. Everyone had a smile on their faces. Sean decided to stay back. He wanted to take a walk. During his walk, he saw a pretty blue flower. He looked at the flower for a moment. He then whispered ‘Liforza.’ The flower shriveled up and died. It looked ashy. He frowned at the sight. He plucked the flower and kept it in his hand. He then walked away with a neutral face.


	11. Episode 11: Shadow In The Back

A new school year had begun. The newly promoted 6th year students boarded the train at 9 and 3 quarters. Sean, Henry, Diana got on a compartment. Sean and Diana looked the same as before. Henry had an extra accessory.

Sean: The fuck?!

Henry: How do you like my glasses?

Diana: Why are you wearing them?

Henry: My eyesight has gotten worse.

Sean: Not gonna lie, it looks good. It matches with your hair.

Henry: Oh thanks. I feel like Harry Potter now.

Sean: Why does everyone say that whenever they wear glasses?

Sean was curious. Henry chuckled. After a few minutes, someone else joined their compartment.

Nora: Hey guys.

Diana: Hey there girl.

Henry: Hola.

Sean: Hi there milady.

Nora rolled her eyes. She sat next to Sean. Before the train left for the station, some ministry officials peeked into their compartment. They recognized Sean and greeted him. Sean greeted them back. After they left, Sean groaned.

Henry: The hell was that?

Sean: They were ministry officials. The ministry has been up my ass since I got 12 O’s in OWLs.

Nora: That’s too bad.

Sean was groaning in pain.

Diana: You okay?

Sean: Not really. Back pain.

Henry: How did that happen?

Sean: It all began when Nora pushed me off the tree.

Nora: Get over it!

Sean: Okay that’s not the reason. I visited some parkour course and got injured there.

Henry: Of course you got hurt.

Sean: Shut thy mouth!

Diana: Shouldn’t you get it checked?

Sean: I did.

Henry: Did you try your magic?

Sean: When I said that I got it checked, I meant that I checked it myself. Unfortunately, it did not work.

Sean kept groaning in pain. He took a soft pillow he had and tried to sleep in a sitting position. His back began giving him more pain. He then put the pillow on Nora’s lap and laid down on the seat. Nora was confused.

Nora: What are you doing?

Sean: Trying to sleep. My back also hurts from sitting. Here, use these to get the food from the cart.

He threw a bag full of galleons towards Henry. Nora was perplexed but allowed Sean to sleep on her lap. After a few minutes, he was in a deep sleep. He looked peaceful. Nora ran her fingers through his wavy black hair. Henry and Diana had a smile on their face.

Sean recently was able to sleep better than previous times. He used to sleep on his mum and grandmother’s lap when he was young and felt scared. He felt comfort laying there, being under the vision of someone who cared for him.

The train arrived at Hogwarts station after a few hours. Nora woke Sean up.

Nora: You slept well.

Sean: Means I won’t sleep tonight.

They all shared a chuckle. They arrived in the school by thestrals. Though most could not see them, Sean could. He was present beside his grandmother when she was in her death bed. He saw her pass away in front of his own eyes, unable to do anything about it. He hated himself for not doing anything. He hated being powerless. But he could not do anything. Or so he thought.

The first feast of the new school year had begun. The sorting hat was checked multiple times. Professor Slughorn was reluctant to touch his food. The feast turned out to be a normal one. During the feast, Headmistress McGonagall made an announcement.  
McGonagall: This year, the Triwizard Tournament will be hosted by Hogwarts. On October 30th, the students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons will arrive. These two months will hold preparations for the tournament.

The opinions about the announcement were mixed. Some were pumped about the tournament. Some were skeptical. It had been twelve years since the death of Cedric Diggory. He had passed away during the third task of the tournament. The tournament had an infamous reputation when it came to death. Many students who became champions met their demise during the tasks. But things were looking bright after the death of Lord Voldemort. The tournament resumed in 2000 and took place in Beauxbatons. The next one took place in Durmstrang three years later. The tournaments went flawless. There were no casualties during the tournaments. The Headmistress looked confident enough to make Hogwarts host the tournament.

The school seemed busy. Classes were going as usual. The gang had a discussion about the tournament.

Tom: So there are new rules compared to the ones in 1994.

Diana: What are they?

Serena: The first one is that in order to put your name in the goblet, you must be over the age of sixteen, one younger than the previous ones.

Matt: That is odd.

Sam: Not really. It makes the pool to choose entrants bigger.

Annette: That seems fair.

Henry: There will be three tasks. The final task always ended with someone touching the cup. But they stopped it in fears of it being a portkey.

Emile: Hey, that’s pretty good.

During their discussion, they heard bickering from their back. It was between Ray and Mary.

Diana: The hell is going on with those two?

Tom: I have no clue.

Serena: They have been bickering since they got on the train.

Emile: They seemed fine before the break.

Sam: Something happened during the break. Has to be something big.

Matt: Let’s hope they can figure it out.

Although they were excited about the tournament, not all of them wanted to join. But the one everyone knew would join was nowhere to be seen.

Henry was looking for Sean. He knew of one place to look for him. He went to Hagrid’s hut and asked him.

Henry: Hey there Hagrid!

Hagrid: Hey there my boy! How have you been?   
Henry: I’m fine. Have you seen Sean?

Hagrid: No I haven’t.

Henry: Where could he be?

They both thought for a while. Suddenly, they heard a loud thud that came from the back of Hagrid’s hut. They checked the area. They found Sean groaning on the ground.  
Henry: What the hell?!

Hagrid: Are you okay?

Sean: Yup I am. Just jumped from your roof to land on my back.  
Hagrid: Why did ya do that?

Sean: To fix my back pain with more pain.

Henry: Well that is pretty dumb.

Sean: Shut thy mouth!

Hagrid helped Sean get back up. Henry then began guiding Sean back to the common room. On their way, they met two new ministry officials. They approached Sean and Henry.

Official 1: Hello there Mr. Wittford. It is nice to meet you.

Sean: Right back at you.

Official 2: You seem like a favorite to put your name on the goblet of fire.

Sean: I sure do.

Official 1: If you do get selected, be sure to do well.

Official 2: You have our support.

The two officials then left for their duties.

Henry: The hell was that?

Sean: As I said, they are up my ass.

The truth was that Sean never got hurt from a parkour course. But the stunt he did do include parkour. During the break, Sean began spying the ministry. He knew about the shady part of the ministry. He needed to figure out a plan to take them down. He could not let them fuck up the muggle world. One week of scouting included him in a costume. It was an all-black outfit with blue outlines. The mask resembled that of a black knight. Instead of using his previous codename, which was Eagle, he chose a new one. He settled on Thestral. He used the Guide for a Shadow to make out the layout of the ministry for future use. He was navigating his way through the roofs of ministry buildings using the vents as entry points. He used his Grey Magic to spy on ministry officials. Many of them were against the ideals of Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt. They wanted wizard supremacy. They also wanted to repress muggleborns and squibs. Thestral kept on his scouting for a week. Unfortunately on the last day of scouting the area, things went awry. Some ministry officials had spotted him from the windows. They went to make a move. Thestral began his escape. He was running on top of the roof. He needed to apparate. But he was failing. He was not able to apparate. He began overthinking. He was left with one choice. He had set up gliders on his costume. But he had yet to use them. He decided to give them a try. He jumped off an edge of the roof. He then released the gliders that were laced into the coat of his costume. He managed to glide well for most of the flight. It was at the nearby end when things went wrong. The wind was strong. The glides started taking him aback. He tried to get back in control. It ended with him landing on the hard soiled ground with his back. He screamed in pain. His back hurt more than a heartbreak. But he managed to successfully complete his mission, at the cost of his back.

The gang discussed on who should put their names on the goblet.

Matt: I want to put in my name.

Diana: Why? So you can fuck up?

Matt: That’s mean.

Diana: I don’t care.

Henry: Ah shut it you two.

Ray: What about you Emile?

Emile: I’m not interested.

Mary: Huh. Not surprised. What about Serena?

Serena: I will.

Tom: Count me in babe.

They both shared a look and went in for a short kiss. The others cringed.

Tom: And how about you Nora?

Nora: I’m going to put in my name.

Henry: Hold the phone.

Diana: You will?

Nora: I feel confident about this tournament. I think I can win it.

Diana: That’s great.

Sean: Just don’t die on us.

Nora: Aww are you worried?

Sean: Stop it.

Henry: Won’t you join Sean?

Sean: I’m still not sure.

Matt: Why?

Sean: I don’t know. I will think about it later.

Nora: Well you have to do it before October 30th. So think fast cause things will be really interesting.

Tom: They sure will.

Matt: So how many does it make for us?

Henry: Four so far. Larry, Annette and Sasha might also join in.

Serena: Let’s just see what happens.

Sean observed the environment. The ministry knew of Thestral. They had been suspecting Sean of being the shadowy figure. But so far, they had no proof. He was glad about it. He was curious to join the tournament but he feared that the ministry might rig it against him. So for that, he needed a counterplan. He knew of one. He would keep it hidden from the others. He needed to do it to take down the shady racist fucks of the ministry. He did not want anyone to suffer like he did. All he wanted was to lead a peaceful life. But for that, he needed Thestral to do the task.


End file.
